The Cure For Your Itch

School Sinking or Swimming

It has been 14 weeks since I started back to school. At first I felt quite intimidated with the on-line learning environment, but I have grown to like it. It offers me some flexibility in my schedule. I think many people have a misconception that because it is on-line that it is not really the same thing as traditional school. In fact, I find that it requires more time than a traditional school.

I am required to sign on four days a week and make four posts on each of those days. Each post needs to be a minimum of 150 words in order to meet the participation requirements. I am sure if I were in a traditional classroom this would be much easier to do.

Then there is homework. Some of the assignments are quite easy while some are extremely difficult. I find that most of them can be done within a few hours. I have enjoyed both of the Communication classes that I have taken. I also enjoyed the Learning Skills In the Information Age class. I am not really enjoying the one class I thought I would like the most, Critical Thinking. This class has way to much terminology and it is easy to get confused. However, I am still getting pretty good grades, something I should have spent more time doing in high school.

Learning Skills In the Information age (Pretty Good HUH?)

Grade Summary (Week 1-Week 9)		Grade: A
Total Percentage:	99.6%
Your Total Score:	996
Total Possible Score:	1000

Contemporary Business Communication (Not to shabby!)

Grade Summary (Week 1-Week 9)		Grade: A
Total Percentage:	96.3%
Your Total Score:	963
Total Possible Score:	1000

Effective Essay Writing ( I know, week 3 and I'm down 3 points, don't ride me!)

Grade Summary (Week 1-Week 3)
Total Percentage:	98.33%
Your Total Score:	177
Total Possible Score:	180

Critical Thinking (So far so good)

Grade Summary (Week 1-Week 3)
Total Percentage:	99.29%
Your Total Score:	208.5
Total Possible Score:	210

At any rate, I'm swimming. It has been a great experience so far. Hopefully nothing changes.

My Biography

My name is Matt Kottman. I am 37 years old and live in Rockford IL. I have a large family; we have 8 people in the house all together. My wife and I have both divorced and remarried. I have a daughter (13) and a son (10). My wife has four boys (5, 7, 11, and 12). It sounds like it would be crazy, but it’s not. The kids are all pretty well-behaved and quiet for the most part. However, they sure do keep you on the go. The five year old broke his leg on the last day of school, so needless to say everyone’s summer was a little on the boring side.    

   

I run an American Youth Soccer Program in Rockford. At times, it can be very demanding, while at other times it’s practically non-existent. I also work full time, four 10-hour days a week unless I am on overtime (and there sure hasn’t been much of that with this economy). I have been in steel fabrication and/or construction since I graduated from high school. I have worked and traveled all over the East Coast and Gulf Coast working in shipyards. I have also worked as a Union Ironworker. To sum it all up, I work with my back, my hands and my head, EXACTLY IN THAT ORDER. This is my driving motivator for becoming a college “kid” at this point in my life. I have settled down a lot in my personal life and matured. I guess that maybe I have finally decided what I want to be when I grow up--more importantly, what I don’t want to be.  

 

“College, at 37?” “ You, an accountant?” And my personal favorite, “How do you do a beer bong online?” That’s what I am hearing these days. I laugh at them. I still have half of my life left to work, why not? Well, it’s time for some change. It will take a lot of patience and understanding on my and my family’s part. I am certain I will succeed. But most of all, in the end, I will be working with my head, my hands and my back (EXACTLY IN THAT ORDER).

Old Dog / NewTricks

    Am I ready for this? I think I have been more than ready for a while; however, I have just recently been able to believe myself. I had a "moment of clarity" not too long ago,which sent me into all sorts of different directions. I took several steps back and looked at where I am vs. where I want to be, and I realized that I wasn't close to where I wanted to be. Well, Matt, what are you going to do about that? I thought it was time for a life-altering decision, a decision that would challenge me, that would make me second-guess myself, but, most importantly, a decision that would change the direction of my life.

 I have always worked hard. I have always worked with my hands, my back, and my head. Exactly in that order. Now the decision I have made is to do the same thing, only in the reverse order. I realized that I didn't want to work as physically hard or do what I do for another 30 years. I wanted to use my head more than my back. I wanted to make a better living. But how?

 So, I admit it. I started looking at what some of my friends do for a living--mostly at people who I have a lot of respect for, and some sort of admiration. Then I started to ask myself tons and tons of questions. Could I do that? Would I like doing that? Would I be happy doing that? What would it take for me to be able to do that?

I have made the decision to start going to college. Yep that's right. Who would have ever guessed it? I think a lot of my close friends and family are, well, shocked! I am not exactly the person anyone remembers ever having anything good to say about school. I had what I thought was a miserable existence in high school. I wasn't unable to study and work hard in high school, and I wasn't unable to understand the material. I was uninterested, that's what I was.

 Oh, it's funny what age does to you. I know it sounds ridiculous, but I have been catching myself thinking, "man, if I could only go back and do it over... ."  So, I decided that's what I should do. My wife, who is my biggest supporter and believes in me even more than I do myself has been great about it. She has helped to take away my doubts, given me more reasons why I should, and supported me in every way that I can imagine. I truly am lucky to have such a devoted wife.

Okay, but go to college for what? What have I decided to be now that I'm starting to grow up? I have chosen to get a degree in accounting. In approximately twenty months I will have an Associate of Arts with a concentration in Accounting. Approximately twenty to twenty-four months after that, I will receive a Bachelors Degree in Accounting.

I will be doing all my classes online through the University of Phoenix. That should allow for some flexibility that will be very welcomed considering the schedule we keep around the house. I will have two classes at a time, and will start two new classes every nine weeks. That's an aggressive schedule, but I am ready. I feel as if I am already behind, since I am 37 yeas old. I probably should have done this several years ago. But now things are right for it. I have great people all around me who believe in me and help me to believe in myself.

 I want to thank several people for helping me to get to this point.

 Mostly I want to thank my wife. She has been and continues to be my best friend, my biggest fan, and my soul-mate through thick and thin. I have no clue what I have ever done to deserve to be married to such a wonderful woman. I am grateful to her beyond words.

 I would also like to thank my good friend Dave. He has given me some direction and advice without even knowing. Dave is one of those guys who everyone should try to be like, at least a little. He has told me if I need any help that he would be more than happy to sit down with me and help me if I am hung up on any of my school work, and I know he would without hesitation.

Finally, I would like to thank Jared. Jared is my admissions counselor for school. He has helped me with so much paper work! He has been patient and kind. I feel like he is a great guy, not just doing his job. He has gone out of his way for me, working late into the evenings, and it doesn't go unnoticed.

The chaos is soon to begin. I will be starting my first two classes a week from tomorrow. I am starting my first homework assignment in years as soon as I finish this post.

My Surrogate Brain

 

 Yes, it's true. I would be lost without it. My Blackberry 8330 is priceless. This is the absolute best thing I have ever used to help me remember everything from the smallest reminders to the things that would be devastating for me to forget. The calendar is one of the greatest features. It's foolproof, I set an alarm and it reminds me. The only thing I have to remember is to enter the appointment that I need to be reminded of. And if that's not enough, I can synchronize it to my calendar in outlook on the computer so I am sure never to miss a thing. It's just like a laptop computer for your pocket!

Another great feature is that I have access to the Internet everywhere I go. I never get tired of sitting around waiting for anything. I can just get online and kill some time. There are all sorts of apps you can put on your blackberry. Some of my favorite apps are:
Facebook, Ubertwitter, Weatherbug, Beyond160, Pandora Radio, Barnes and Noble e Reader,Quik Pull Pro, Evernote and Bluff My Call. The best part, those apps are free with the exception of Beyond 160 and Quikpull Pro.

There are literally hundreds of launchers that you can get for your Blackberry. I have several that I use on a daily basis. Some of my favorite launchers are:
Blackberry Rocks, Crackberry, Edl Industries, Blackberry App World, Texts From Last Night, F*** My Life,

The one thing I know, I will never have a "regular" cell phone again, Because my Blackberry ROCKS!

What are your Favorite Apps / Launchers?

HTM What The Hell?

What a lesson. If a first you don't succeed, try again and again and again and again. I am not sure how many times it took for me to figure out where to add the html code for the site meter. It went in and it went out. It went in and it went out. Over and over and over. I was beginning to feel as dumb as a box of rocks! I don't like to get beat down by an inanimate object. How could this be happening? And yes of course, WHY ME? When I decided to I had enough and quit asking the wrong questions, guess what? Badda-Boom, Badda-Bing! Finally it's in, and in a spot that makes sense. Even better it works. Hooray! I am not sure but some where along the way, there may have been a little swearing involved, sometimes that helps. Doesn't it? Oh well, to all good things, comes an end. Thank goodness this ones over. Whew!

Big Plans / Shallow Pockets Debate

Thinking about starting on the Mustang for a fresh paint job. A good buddy of mine will paint it for me--he does really nice work. I am a little hesitant to start, though. I want to pull out the headlight and taillight buckets, remove all the window belts, trim, and weather stripping. My hesitation is in the fact that I will have to buy all new trim and mouldings. Not to mention, once that damn gold stripe disappears those rims will really look bad; draglites would be a great improvement especially with some Mickey Thompson drag radials mounted on them. I also would like to buy clear headlight and taillight buckets because I really like that look. I would also like to put on a new front bumper cover and a 4 inch cowl hood before the new paint hits the car. That's a lot of cash flying away. However, the paint job will only cost me materials and a few beers (for while we watch the paint dry).