I have had some very productive days this past week. On top of finalizing my chair for my graduate thesis I have run numerous amounts of errands and have also completed the ever-dreaded taxes and FAFSA. Technology has proven to be a very important part of me accomplishing these two things specifically.
Some of you might be shocked but the other weekend was my first time to complete both my taxes and FAFSA on my own. I know how can I be 23 years old just doing these things for my first time. Well as numbers are not my thing my mom has been a huge help in this area. But this year it was time for me to put my big girl pants on and complete these on my own.
As I was nervous accomplishing such big tasks for the first time I asked for some assistance from my mom. While the tax program proved to be straightforward it was still nice having someone agree or disagree that I was doing things correctly.
The cool thing about me accomplishing my taxes and FAFSA is that my mom (while living 540 miles away) was right next to me helping me step by step and through every process all because of technology!
For 3 days in a row we logged on to Skype and video messaged for a few hours at a time, of course talking about our day and catching up on each others life, but Skype has this feature where you can share your computer screen with someone you are video messaging with. This means that I was able to share my computer screen (while working through the tax program) with my mom who was able to see which step I was at exactly and was able to make sure that I was clicking the right things etc.
This proved to be a FANTASTIC way for me to transition to learning to do my taxes and FAFSA on my own without having to be thrown right into it! No only did technology aid in me completing my taxes and FAFSA with my moms help, but it felt as if she was right there next to me at my computer guiding me through it.
And this is just one way in which technology has impacted and strengthened my relationship and communication with my mom! ☺
Cheryl
Showing posts with label technology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label technology. Show all posts
Monday, February 28, 2011
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Mental Rest
Hey!
I hope you all are looking forward to the weekend as much as I am. This has been a very long week for me, with grading my students speeches and preparing them for their upcoming test and informative speech on top of staying ahead in my own classes including getting started on my thesis.
I am extremely optimistic about my thesis research and hope to eventually get my blog more public in order to reach numerous amounts of mothers and daughters. It is definitely a slow process, but I am learning a lot. I have already been contacted by a wonderful woman who wants to do her part in helping me get my name and research out there. So the continuous support from family, friends, colleagues, and support from people who are just interested in my research is amazing and extremely appreciated.
Last night in my Qualitative Research class after discussing everyone's progress on their current research, my professor wanted us all to take a moment to think outside of our box, get out of our comfort zone, and take a mental rest. She handed us each a sheet of paper along with some markers and asked us to draw images related to our research. She wanted us to draw what we first think of when we think about our research and continue from there. While my drawing ended up being very basic compared to the others in class I have decided to post a picture of it to my blog for everyone to see.
It is supposed to be a laptop as my center focus of my research as my site is this blog. You can see my interesting attempt at drawing a Texas on the laptop, as I then draw in the location of my mom in Houston and myself in Lubbock communicating through our cell phones. This picture incorporates the geographical distance that I am interested in learning more about how it affects mother-daughter communication while incorporating elements of technology (laptop & cell phones) and how they aid in mothers and daughters keeping in contact with each other. So I hope you enjoy this interesting artwork of mine. :)
I wonder if anyone interprets my drawing as symbolizing anything else, or gets something else out of it?
WIth my recent move from Nacogdoches, Texas (where I got my undergraduate degree at SFA) to Lubbock,Texas for graduate school and with my mom still living in my hometown outside of the Houston area, technology has been a surprising lifesaver for maintaining our relationship.
Without the IPhone video chat capability, skype video chat, Facebook, Twitter, and text messaging I do not believe that our relationship would have withstood this move as well as it has with all this technology. It allows us to not only talk to each other but see each other as well, which makes it feel at times like we are actually there with each other.
Technology has had such an impact on our relationship I am curious if technology has had the same of different results with other mother daughter duos. What sorts of technology are common ways of communication for you and your mother/daughter? Do you try to use these forms of technology as often as possible to contact one another. Are you as a mother or daughter satisfied with your communication with your mother or daughter given the forms of technology you use?
With the way technology is constantly changing the way our world works and the way people communicate with one another it will be interesting to see what new advances technology will make that will continue to aid in keeping in contact with one another.
Until next time,
Cheryl
I hope you all are looking forward to the weekend as much as I am. This has been a very long week for me, with grading my students speeches and preparing them for their upcoming test and informative speech on top of staying ahead in my own classes including getting started on my thesis.
I am extremely optimistic about my thesis research and hope to eventually get my blog more public in order to reach numerous amounts of mothers and daughters. It is definitely a slow process, but I am learning a lot. I have already been contacted by a wonderful woman who wants to do her part in helping me get my name and research out there. So the continuous support from family, friends, colleagues, and support from people who are just interested in my research is amazing and extremely appreciated.
Last night in my Qualitative Research class after discussing everyone's progress on their current research, my professor wanted us all to take a moment to think outside of our box, get out of our comfort zone, and take a mental rest. She handed us each a sheet of paper along with some markers and asked us to draw images related to our research. She wanted us to draw what we first think of when we think about our research and continue from there. While my drawing ended up being very basic compared to the others in class I have decided to post a picture of it to my blog for everyone to see.
It is supposed to be a laptop as my center focus of my research as my site is this blog. You can see my interesting attempt at drawing a Texas on the laptop, as I then draw in the location of my mom in Houston and myself in Lubbock communicating through our cell phones. This picture incorporates the geographical distance that I am interested in learning more about how it affects mother-daughter communication while incorporating elements of technology (laptop & cell phones) and how they aid in mothers and daughters keeping in contact with each other. So I hope you enjoy this interesting artwork of mine. :)
I wonder if anyone interprets my drawing as symbolizing anything else, or gets something else out of it?
WIth my recent move from Nacogdoches, Texas (where I got my undergraduate degree at SFA) to Lubbock,Texas for graduate school and with my mom still living in my hometown outside of the Houston area, technology has been a surprising lifesaver for maintaining our relationship.
Without the IPhone video chat capability, skype video chat, Facebook, Twitter, and text messaging I do not believe that our relationship would have withstood this move as well as it has with all this technology. It allows us to not only talk to each other but see each other as well, which makes it feel at times like we are actually there with each other.
Technology has had such an impact on our relationship I am curious if technology has had the same of different results with other mother daughter duos. What sorts of technology are common ways of communication for you and your mother/daughter? Do you try to use these forms of technology as often as possible to contact one another. Are you as a mother or daughter satisfied with your communication with your mother or daughter given the forms of technology you use?
With the way technology is constantly changing the way our world works and the way people communicate with one another it will be interesting to see what new advances technology will make that will continue to aid in keeping in contact with one another.
Until next time,
Cheryl
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