I almost don't want this to end... In the beginning I was thinking "It's going to be a huge time commitment, am I going to be able to last through April", and now I'm thinking "Oh, what am I going to do after this ends, it's been so mind expanding, and so good for my skill set, what will I do next?"

I definitely, definitely enjoyed this, it's so much better than what I thought it was going to be.

What I'm surprised by is the time flies by... I have definitely put the time into it but it just flies by because it's so intensely interesting and engaging, and I'm just learning so much. So I was really surprised by that.

I was also surprised that, taking online courses, I just thought it would be very isolating, you'd be sitting at your monitor alone, taking your classes, but it's really a classroom feeling, which was surprising to me. I feel like I'm part of the student body...

We have office hours, where students interact with the professor, ask questions, we've gotten to know each other through that, there's also workshops where we're all together taking the workshop, you can ask questions, you can hear the responses, so I was really surprised at the community feeling of this class. And I really enjoy that.

And I think one of the big benefits, though, that I also can take the video sessions on my own, so if I don't have time during the day, I can take them late at night, or whenever is most appropriate for me. So I think that's very beneficial to the time-strapped individual.

When I post my homework, I get almost immediate responses back, and they're in-depth, it's not like just "okay, you did it, check, move on to the next one"... she actually gives me very good, constructive criticism and it's immediate, so I just love that part.

So I don't feel any different from when I was taking a class going for my Master's, and actually in a school environment.

Try it, do it, jump in right now. It's not too late in the game. And then you can obtain success. So start now.

Lisa Kowit