Welcome to Ashford

      In the classes at Ashford University we have a discussion board;  on the first day of class we introduce ourselves with a brief personal biography.  After reading T(___)'s bio, I wanted to complement him on his testimony for God, when it dawned on me that I could not be sure if he was a Christian, Jew, Muslim, . . .or other. This is his introduction:

Hello Classmates,

            My name is T(____). I go by T(__). I am twenty five years old and am married with two kids. I have been married for going on three years next month actually, and have a two year old son and a three year old daughter. The two most important things in my life are God and my family. I do everything I can to be a great father and husband. I decided to return to school to get a degree in business and project management to move up the ladder in the company I work for. I am very easy going and don’t let the little things bother me. I f I t is something that God and my family approve of and benefit from I am all for it. I look forward to getting to know, help, and learn from you all in this class. I wish you all the best in your effort to finish school. 

I suppose eventually I will have to ask Him.  Though I have not yet figured out how.

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Here's my bio:

Hello everyone, I am Todd Saunders, a 53 year old CNA of one year.  A single father of one 13 ½ year old daughter. This past year was my third part-time year as a nursing student in Rhinelander Wisconsin.  I have now withdrawn from that program and am heading into a degree in Applied Behavioral Science, here at Ashford, to eventually be seeking a career in psychological counseling. Let me give you a quick bio.  Out of high school, I went to U-W Whiterwater, WI, for a year and a half, withdrew, drove school bus in Milwaukee for 2 years, moved to Young America, MN for six months, moved to Lexington, KY area and worked in the tobacco harvest, redryers, and saddle shop (having grown up with horses) for four years, moved back up to my home in Big Bend WI. for 2 years.  I worked in a small marketing company for 1 year managing their warehouse, computer data imput, and telecommunications. Then river rafting and the construction trades in CA for 7 years, horseshoeing/equine dentistry in northern Wisconsin for 18 years, and finally one year as a CNA.  I am a Christian in this world.  My interests are:  A lifetime of playing many different musical instruments, fooling with horses, building, parenting, snorkeling, the human mind, and studying my bible.  My personal website is toddsaunders.us. Thanks for making it all of the way through. Looking forward to being in the class with all of you.

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      This is Ashford University, Clinton, IA.  What an interesting history page they have.  Their college TM is "Technology changes everything". Indeed, it continues to do so. Currently they offer their fully accredited classroom courses in an online setting in the form of one complete course every five weeks. They have done their homework and have come up with an effective online program -- the equivalent of their physical institutional program. This is for working people with or without families -- or anyone for that matter.  It is the "new college experience".  

      With 60 transferable college credits I am halfway to a BS degree in psychology.  Two years from this past January I should come out the other end.  

      I just completed a Psychology 202:  Adult Development and Life Assessment, wherein we learned the identifiable patterns of human development across the lifespan.  And to prepare some of us in middle adulthood (the latter part) for the rigors of writing college caliber papers again, we had to write a "life story" essay in APA professional writing format.  

      Normally our mental abilities do not decline with age. But, there are no guarantees, and, some of us just go completely downhill starting in our late 50's to early 60's.  I'm preparing myself just in case I fall into the normal range.  That would be a first for me.

      The class I started today (2-26-2013) is computer literacy.

      I also have one more tough assignment that is due to get started today.  I will be writing an open letter (editorial) to a Family Court Judge, who is up for election in April for Circuit Court Judge, and who, in response to my daughter's mother's petition for "temporary change in custody", ran something of a hearing that would have got him laughed out of class at law school, put my daughter in danger, and made it much more difficult to get my daughter's mother the help she needs.  So this will be a tough one.  

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