Hi, Athabasca U.

I'm about to embark on a full-time study program starting in January, and I'm very excited about it. The Landing, and in particular this blog space, will hopefully come in handy. I am planning to use this space in particular to track my progress, to brainstorm ideas for my course (and whatever else happens to be crossing between my ears), and to get in touch with like minded people at the U.

So for my first post, I think I'll go over what's brought me to this point. Following, likely today, will be where I plan on going through my Program, and what my goals are in a general sense.With luck it won't be dull reading. I'll try to make it interesting, for your sake as well as mine.

I'm a recipient of the "Dean's Vacation" from the U of Alberta a bit over a decade ago. I was too young and didn't know what I wanted, and my schooling suffered for it. Frankly, I was lazy and didn't know that you actually had to do work in order to achieve anything of value. Since then I've gone through some serious bumps, but I've learned that lesson very well indeed.

Particularly, I find myself in Fort McMurray, doing a job I uttery loathe. For those who don't know, fort McMurray is the centre of the Canadian Tar Sands, where a significant portion of North Americas' oil comes from. It's quite a wild west town, owned by the big oil companies and packed full to brimming with people hoping to strike it rich. The amount of money flowing from this place is utterly obscene.

Sadly, it's also the site of a lot of broken people, and people who've become addicted to the money and *can't* leave, due to debt or habit. 100,000 people crammed into a city designed for 20,000; the place takes a special brand of insanity to stand for long.

This was my impulse for getting out of here. While the money has been nice, and it's going to help me a great deal in paying my tuition, there's no way I could work here much longer. It's taken me two years of part time study to complete my first semester - at that rate I'd finish my degree by the time I retire. Back to full time school, back to civilization, and back to sanity. This will happen on December 15, 2011; 14 days from current posting. I can barely wait the two weeks.

I enrolled in AthU's BSc-IS program two years ago, as I said above. I've always had an affinity for computer programming - I was programming an old Commodore 64 when I was 8, and built my first painting program on it when I was 12. Sadly, I *don't* have an affinity for raw math, mostly because I wasn't taught very well when I was rather young and hadn't ever really caught up. I'm improving, but it's a lot of work and slow going. I've also got some moderate skill in drawing and painting, and I enjoy writing.

When you get right down to it, I'm a bit of a jack-of-all-trades, with all of the benefits and flaws of the class. I can do most things, and even do many of them passably, but it's hard to excel. Cracking that nut and being really *good* at something is going to take a lot of work, but that's exactly why I'm here. Fortunately I've always enjoyed a challenge, and am looking forward to doing my best.

That's long enough - hello to you all, and I hope we all find success here.