Dan McCormick's Blog

   I love music! Music helps me think. I keep singing songs over and over in my head that relate to what is going on in my life. Lately, it has been Oxygen by the Dirty Head. The lyrics I keep hearing are  " Tornado; I see you coming around. Don't let go, you know I'm holding you down... If you're going under, then I'll be your oxygen."      I received a phone call from Moraine Valley earlier this week informing me my class did not have enough enrollment. Maybe it is for the better and God is helping me with my situation. I love that I started going back to school and I have learned a lot about myself. I am not as organized with my time as I thought I was and my family needs me more than I imagined.      When I was in high school, I rarely spent time at home. Kids are home all the time, yet their minds are in the cyber world. We need to teach them more important things than "likes" and "hearts." Life is more than getting approval on...

I do not know how I got to this point. I cannot even think right now. I am afraid to see my grade on my essay. So much has happened in the last week and it is going to make it hard to concentrate on school. We talk about managing our time and our minds, but some things are beyond our control. Sometimes our concern for others take over and become more important than our own lives. The next couple weeks and possibly longer are gonna take a toll on me. I thought I was strong, but I am an emotional wreck. I can only hope that the worst is behind me and not in my future. I fear that my goals may have to be put on hold and I feel selfish for thinking of myself. I did not even see this coming. Did I fail? Was I supposed to be more involved? I will have to change the way I think and be more prepared. Things will have to be different. My life will have to change, and I will have to try harder. I will have to pray louder and hope God hears me. I fear the worst is still unknown and will reveal ...

                I have had a different type of week. No technical issues, just some mental struggles. I left class Monday night, feeling really good about the class, but as the week went on, I struggled mentally with motivation. I could not get myself in the mindset for school . It was not just with school, but with everything. I was not 100% at work and got nothing done around the house. Just a ‘blah’ sort of week! I had never had a fear of turning my assignments in late or that I was not going to do them. I just needed an extra push. Have you ever felt like that? I managed to pick at my assignments, here and there, reading in the On Course book and the two other books, then outlining my essay, but never tackled things head-on with full force. At the end of the week, I got things done and with great results. I am happy with the results, but I need to train my mind better. I need to focus and build my...

    Another week of school and more problems arise. The main issue is that we never had cable or internet installed at our new house. We moved in at the beginning of summer and figured it would be better to keep the kids outdoors than on the couch. I thrust myself into school last minute and am fighting to find places to work on a computer. My first couple assignments I used my daughter's school issued laptop. Everything worked out except I struggled with the different programs. This week I used my other daughter's laptop and had nothing but problems! I must have rewritten my essay three times because the computer would refresh and delete paragraphs on me. I had to bring my paper to work to finish it but did not want to send it in until my family proofread it. When my daughters and girlfriend came home, I had them go over it and tell me what they thought. Afterwards, I went to the library to put my essay into Word format. I make the blunder of emailing my essay! I feel great t...

     I guess I didn't anticipate losing so much time so fast. Starting school on Monday was exciting. Meeting the other students with similar lives as myself, what a coincidence. Maybe because I registered late and still had obligations to fulfill is why I'm stressed. I had to go to Moraine Valley on Tuesday to turn in my consortium agreement paperwork for my financial aid. Today I had to go to work late so I can get an immunization shot and some blood work. I am glad that is over!      I find that I am learning how to write again. Not just punctuation and grammar, but how to properly write an essay. I asked my daughter for assistance since she loves to write. She pulls out this piece of paper with different rules or styles on how to write an essay. I used to just write an opening paragraph, then the body, and finally a conclusion. Which is wrong! There is sentence structure within the paragraph that I had forgotten about or was unaware of. I appreciate he...