DONE

It feels so good to finally be done with my paper. I have been so busy over this term with school work and real work that I haven't had any spare time what so ever!!!

Continuation of blog?

I actually already had a blog on this website before I started this class. I started a blog because I travel around so much and I am living in different countries and doing different things every year. With my blog I am able to have sort of a "distribution list" so that anytime I post something it goes to everyone on my list. This works out really good for me because I can never remember which friends and relatives I have told what to so this way I only type it once and it goes to everyone.

Research

I have found it interesting during my research to see how many different opinions there are on a topic such as protein intake. With all of the research out there you would think researchers might eventually end up at the same conclusion I think every article I read came to a little bit different conclusion. The one common factor was probably just that people that are more active will need more protein, which is obvious, and that if you are reasonable about your intake you shouldn't have any problem with negative effects on your body.

I'm just glad to at least have the first draft out of the way!

The Last Six Weeks...where did they go?

The last six weeks have gone by so fast. When I started doing mid-term projects I was like, "wow, I'm already half way done with these classes!?". With my full time job and only taking two classes I can't believe how fast the days go by. It seems like I never have enough time to do everything. But I am definitely learning a lot about writing, health care and nutrition since that is what I'm majoring in. I'm sure when I get my degree I will wonder how I got it so fast because the time will keep flying by. Well, now I'm off to work and MORE school work!

Influence of School On My Life

Four words...NO MORE FREE TIME!!! lol I usually take two classes at a time so that on top of my full time job pretty much consumes all of my time. The only other thing I make sure to make time for is fitness. With the weight lifting program I'm on now I only lift three times a week so that takes up a lot less time than most of my programs where I lift 5 to 6 times a week.

I'm at a point in my life right now though where I can commit all of my time to my job and school. I'm in the Marine Corps so I don't have to worry about job security, I'm single, don't have any kids and don't have to worry about housing. I don't even have to worry about cleaning or cooking most of the time. As a Marine Security Guard I live all over the world in random countries (which would explain why I'm in Cuba right now) and we can afford luxuries that would be too expensive in many places around the world. So the other Marines and I here in Havana have 4 drivers, a cook, a gardener and a maid. I don't know what I'm going to do when I have to go back to the real world!! hahaha

-Nick

Does the Internet Blur the Lines?

I think that the internet does blur the lines of "legally owned" sometimes. One example that comes to mind right away is youtube videos. A specific kind of videos I watch a lot on youtube are videos of people playing cover songs on guitar. I have played the guitar for about 12 years and I like to learn new songs or see how other people play songs acoustically so I will watch them on youtube. However, some people don't give proper credit to the original artist when they record themselves playing their song. When people add videos to youtube they tag them and give them titles. I actually have a few videos on youtube of me playing some cover songs on my acoustic guitar but when I tag them, I include the original artist's name in the title. For example, I recorded the song "Nutshell" by Alice In Chains so I titled it "Cover of the song Nutshell by Alice In Chains". By doing this, people see that it is a cover song, meaning I'm playing someone else's song. They also see the original artist's name. I think this is a good way to avoid taking credit for someone else's song.

Online School

I decided to write about going to school online this week. I definitely like online school because without it, I would not have the opportunity to further my education right now. Being in the Marine Corps I am always moving, deploying, training, etc. so going to an actual school and having scheduled classes is not an option for me. I really like being able to sort of set my own schedule for my school work. I am a very disciplined person (at least I think so, haha) so it's nice for me to be given the materials and the assignments and then just be allowed to do the work on my own time.

I usually only have time to take two classes at a time since I have a full time job but at this rate I should have my bachelor's in nutrition science by the middle of next year or so. It's also nice for me because since I am on active duty in the Marine Corps I am getting 100% of my tuition payed for right now. Once I finish my bachelor's I will probably start working on my master's and then if and when I get out of the Marine Corps I will still have my entire G.I. Bill to further my education even more! AND it will all be free!

The only thing I don't like about online schooling is the fact that you have to rely solely on the internet and technology. For example, I am in Havana, Cuba right now. Cubans don't have internet. The only way I have internet is because I work at the U.S. Interests Section which is just like an embassy but it's not called that in Cuba. So I have to come in to where I work anytime I need to do school work. The internet at my house is hit or miss. Sometimes it will work descently and other times I won't have access for weeks at a time! So that can make school difficult sometimes when everything we do is dependent on the internet!

I will be leaving Cuba though toward the end of May and hopefully heading to a much nicer country somewhere around the world. I think I'll probably be heading to Eastern Europe so I'm sure the internet connection should be just a little bit better than in Cuba, haha.

-Nick