My thoughts on writing my first college paper in almost 20 years.

Writing my first college paper for almost twenty years was overwhelming. That it is an understatement!

I had to read all the assignments but absorb what was being said in the articles. I found myself going back sometimes and re-reading some of the articles. Since I have been out of the college game for so long now, I have second guessed myself over and over. I know I shouldn’t let my age get involved, but I do, and I feel some of the younger women get it.

I found my self-consumed with this first paper canceling family parties and working on it at work in my down time. I am not sure if it was the subject itself, but I do know I struggle with getting my thoughts down on paper.

My husband was a big help this week and would say the first thing you do when you get home is homework. That’s it do not worry about anything else, he was such a big help.  I know he is proud that I am going back and wants to see me succeed.  I  also bounced ideas off of him, and he also helped with his view on my paper.  My daughters love to watch me doing homework. Also, I had to laugh my daughter said now you know how it feels.  I have nine employees under me, and I had a few come into my office and talk to me about my paper, school work how do I do it. I think I am inspiring a few other women at my office to take some college work now. That’s a great feeling.

I changed my original idea for the paper from The Biggest Loser to the Carl’s Jr. advertising. I  read some feedback, and I am still sticking with that but  focusing more on the general idea of food and pop culture and focusing on one commercial.  I find myself wanting to give too much information and not focusing on the general assignment itself.

I sat. in my office and just starting typing my thoughts. Just putting everything out there on the subject. Once I had that done, I would re-read the assignment sit and think what needs to be changed. I tried to organize it, and I sent my rough draft into Smart thinking at least four times. This was very helpful, and I highly recommend using this even before a rough draft to see if you're headed in the right direction of the essay. What I found doing this essay is that I am very organized in my everyday life but not in my writing.

Each rough draft I did I would ask myself are the needs being met by my professor and classmates. I would change my rough draft around again and again. Once I got my rough draft back from Smart thinking, I would use their suggestion and then change it up a bit and re-submit. I thought to myself is this normal? I used my neighbor and a few friends as feedback as well as my classmates.

It’s now Sunday afternoon, and I thought I may be done but now that my professor extended this to Tuesday night. I will add more to this on Monday then do a once over. I hope I have caught everything my professor is looking for. I want to show my manager a good grade as well as my family and just for myself as well.  I am not sure it will get any easier, but now I know what to expect.

Have faith in yourself, ask questions and more questions.

You can do it!

Kelly Christine

Blog post 1: You and food 

Grilling Season is upon us, why not grill everything.

Put everything on the grill and grill your veggies, this saves time and gives tasty results. I prefer to have an assortment and maybe just chicken. By adding a variety of grilled vegetables your not tempted to have a baked potato.

A healthy alternative to grilling.

I was brought up eating very healthy and had 12 brothers and sisters. We still sat down every night eating healthy choices, salad and fruit every evening for dinner.

As I got older and more into my career, they didn’t seem to matter as much, maybe because I thought I am still young in my 30’s it’s ok. I found out the hard way that catches up with you.

I looked at myself and said what happened as I was overweight and didn’t exercise. I didn’t realize that I was that unhealthy until I applied for a new job and had to get a physical. They told me at 43 I had high blood pressure. I couldn’t believe it. I had two small children and was very stressed out with paying bills and daycare.  I looked at my mother who was 73 at the time and was taking handfuls of pills at the time and said I can not live like this. I do not want to be 43 and start taking pills. I went to weight watchers and lost a lot of weight and began to learn more about portion control. I knew what was good and bad for me, but the portion control seemed to help a lot. The problem is I was not exercising, I found myself losing over 3olbs, but I still was not healthy as this became competitive to me, and I was doing this with a bunch of my friends.  On weight in the day, I found myself starving before weigh in and not drinking anything so that I could lose 1lb more.

I turned 50 last July, and now I prefer just to eat healthy, no fad diets and occasionally splurge on ice cream, but it is moderation. I am not trying to look like a model, just attempting to get in better shape. I have started to walk and work out a lot and planning for my first 5K in October. My Husband has begun working out now, which makes it so much nicer.   I want to teach my daughters that yes you can have chips and ice cream, but your foundation should be healthy choices. I try to have a salad at every dinner.  

I am not saying it works all the time, but I see it rubbing off sometimes, and that’s all I can ask for.