Determining My Personal Goals

At first, I can honestly say that I did not have anything that I wanted to achieve as a student. My personal goal was to do the work, get my degree, and get my family off of my back. My mother is the one who made me promise that after my enlistment in the US Army was over, I would return to school. I am not a "school" type of person. I never liked school, even though I was fairly good at most of the criteria. I found school to be a waste of my time. I was not looking forward to coming back to school. In order to write about my personal goals, I need to define my goals. I had to look at what would determine my goals.

"If you are not sure how to start defining your goals, look to your values to guide you." (Carter, Bishop, & Kravits, 2002). Looking into my personal values, I thought about my family and friends. Most of the values that I hold dear today come from my experiences with both. I called one of my friends from high school. I came to find out that she had decided to return to school after taking a five year sabbatical. I asked her why she wanted to go through the headache. She told me "William Durant said that education is a progressive discovery of our own ignorance." I had no idea who William Durant was but I understood her point. After contemplating the assignment, I decide to write about furthering my education.

According to the reference manual, Keys to College Studying: Becoming a Lifelong Learner, by Carol Carter, Joyce Bishop and Sarah Lyman Kravits, "Being a learner for life means that you are able to learn who you are and define what you want, keep pace with rapidly changing workplace technology, stay aware of world developments and how they affect you, and continue to grow as a person." (p. 25). I truly believe this statement. Even though I have not been in class very long, I am already starting to feel better about myself. Rather then just going to bed after I get off of work, I now get some reading done. I write down some notes to help me remember things from class assignments.

"Although it's not easy, working on your weaker points can help you break new ground in your learning." (Carter, Bishop, & Kravits, 2002). I thought about what I need to improve on. The only thing that came to mind was my incessant dislike of school. This main fact, was my reason for becoming a student at the University of Phoenix. With this program, I do not feel that the teachers are talking down to me. Working at my own pace allows me to do my assignments, get my work done, and still spend time with my family. I am enjoying