After four classes at Ashford University, you may have noticed I don't blog every day. I am zapped by the time I complete both jobs and my classwork. This is not a "log in a couple of times a week, write drivel and get a degree" program. I am challenged every day by my professor and my peers.

After four classes, I cannot imagine being a professional student. I am still amazed every day that I have this opportunity, and I'm giving it all I have in order that I don't waste a single day. However, I'm sure I will be a very relieved person in 16 months.

I'm starting to see life until February 2011 as a series of five-week blocks. Starting over, posting, writing essays, taking quizzes, completing another research paper. I will have finished 17 research papers, probably two or three times that many essays, and an uncountable number of posts by then. I will have interacted with at least 500 students, which is only a small fraction of the 40,000+ online students at Ashford.

I love the idea of five-week classes. Just about the time I think I've had enough literature, sociology, technology or sociology, I am finished. Another step up the ladder toward my degree. When I meet another classmate whose views have really challenged me, I can email him or her through the Blackboard system and we can decide whether to exchange real email addresses. I hope that when I finish, I will have accumulated some friends and colleagues for the long run. I know that I will have a lasting gift.

That's a wrap on Class #4, and tomorrow another adventure begins.