Does Online Education Pack on the Freshman 30?

Distance education can be seen as quite a sedentary act. If you are sitting at the computer for hours on end, without any exercise...this could be something that could help someone put on weight. Even for people who go to school that is not online, reports have shown that many young people are gaining 15 pounds from eating cafeteria food in their first year at college or university. What happens if you are studying by correspondence? Does online education pack on the freshman 30?

Many students who are young people and older people who chose to sit at their computer to take their courses lead busy lives. Many times their reasons for not physically going to college or university is because it is simply more convenient for them to study and to take classes from home. They have the advantage of being part of a social network with education at its focus. It is easier to squeeze in the time to do the lessons.

Many of us also know that as we spend a lot of time at home in front of the computer, it is much easier to reach the refrigerator, order a meal or take time to cook a meal. The urge to get hungry could happen often and there may be no one around to manage our eating habits. A student who studies from home could be eating just as badly as some of the food in the cafeterias on the campuses of colleges and universities all over North America. The virtual campus is accessible by computer, plus a bag of Doritos to munch on while you are doing your homework. Doritos, added with too many servings of Kraft Dinner, plus some french fries ordered at Swiss Chalet could end up doing more damage – if coupled with inactivity. At least the freshman student on a college or university campus gets the opportunity to walk around.

The question still remains unanswered though. Does online education pack on the freshman 30? At the end of the day and at the end of your semesters, that may be more a question of how active virtual students are in their lives when they are off the computer. Are they making time to go to the gym? Are they taking time to have breaks so they can go on walks? Do they have children that are helping them keep fit by having to chase after them? Do they work in physically strenuous employment? Are they meeting with other online students to study the course material? Is the act of typing alone an exercise more physical than it is mental?

With these questions answered by each student who is studying over the Internet, it would be easier to determine if online students would actually gain more weight than students who actually have to get up and go to classes. I will attempt to use my own experience as an example.

When I was doing my undergraduate education, I lived a fair distance from the school. It would take about 40 minutes to walk there one way. Due to the fact that I did not have a lot of money when I was in school, I would walk to school to save on bus transportation costs. So I did receive exercise walking to and from school. This was different from when I was in my first year of university when I lived on campus. At this time, I avoided eating the cafeteria food and lived on Hickory Sticks and Skor bars in fear of gaining weight. I would walk through the tunnel system and spend as much time walking as I could. I also spent a lot of time in the first semester going out dancing at clubs in a city not far from the school.

In my second year though, and subsequent years, I would walk 80 minutes a day, plus work out at the school gym. This kept my weight down low. As well, when I was in graduate school, my weight was higher than it was in my first experience with higher education, however I would still take time to exercise.

Studying online is similar to working many desk type jobs. Once I got into the world of work, I would spend a lot of time at the computer and exercise became less important to me. I have found over the years that a lack of exercise is one reason why I am not even close to the weight I was at during my school days. I would imagine that the same would happen to a student who was studying through distance education and lived a non active lifestyle. Perhaps it would be possible to gain more weight through the experience of a virtual classroom compared to studying on a campus.

OK, now it is time to discuss solutions to the potential of packing on the freshman 30 through a web course or program. Now that the problem has been presented, it would be important for anyone who is studying in a virtual classroom to also make sure they are doing physical exercise. It would also be important to make sure your food choices are healthy ones, because everyone has to eat – at least most of us. Choosing fresh fruits and vegetables, versus a bag of Doritos or Lays would be the first and obvious choice. Reducing one's amount of coffee intake to a maximum of one a day would be ideal for your health. Coffee is known to stimulate all kinds of things such as diabetes. If you cannot dream of living without coffee, try tea instead. There are so many varieties out there, I am sure whether it is herbal tea or black tea, you would be sure to find one you like. As well, it is important to minimize the amount of meat you eat. It is always better in general and as a rule for even ruling out illnesses such as cancer that you try to choose fish and chicken over beef and pork.

I know these things are hard to do. I am hardly saying I am perfect at it myself even though I know what are the right things to do. Truly the key is exercise. If you can at least get a half hour walk in every day, and I mean on the weekends too, this would really help you to be healthier. If you do not enjoy walking, you can always choose an exercise that truly suits the kind of person you are. As long as you are keeping active...this is the key. This way you can prevent putting on the freshman 30 and continue to have the convenience of studying online.

The Advice Show Airing Tonight on VoicePrint

Along with Bridget McDonough, I will be on air tonight though VoicePrint. Here is the link:

Enjoy!

Online Book Clubs

Yesterday I had a lot of fun sending out email invitations to people to join me on some online book club sites. Some of them have already joined and it is a great way to keep in touch with people, as well as to promote my books.

I am also working on getting in touch with the Library Service of Canada so I can have my books distributed through a wider library audience. I feel really excited about this because I have wanted my books in places such as the Toronto Public Library, the Ottawa Public Library and the Montreal Public Library system for a long time. As it stands now, I have my books in Seneca College's library system and a documentary in the Ottawa Public Library.

For a writer to get their books in the libraries is a wonderful thing. Plus, these online book clubs are a terrific way to get and stay connected with some people that you normally may not contact. Things are looking good.

Have a great day!

How to Write Creative Non-fiction

How to Write Creative Non-fiction by Donna Kay Kakonge

My review

rating: 5 of 5 stars
Excellent book. Donna Kakonge has many more that can be found at: www.donnakakonge.com.


View all my reviews.

SUNDAY AFTERNOON

It’s after the rain on a Sunday afternoon in May in Toronto, Canada. It’s 20 degrees in Moscow and another siren goes off – heading north. I never know where it’s going but it makes me uneasy. I smoke and I often pray that the firefighters don’t have a reason to visit me.

On the railing of the brown balcony part of my apartment there are modules of water. The air is fresh and feels good for my lungs.

I’m in love with a monk. I’m in love with someone who doesn’t really like to be outside. I’m in love with someone who doesn’t listen to me because a part of him thinks I’m a dumb kid. He also listens really well and inspires me. He’s 49 and I’m 32.

I went to a funeral three weeks ago for my Uncle Al. He died from Alzheimer’s and diabetes. He fought in WWII. When I was 15 he told me on a golf course in Barbados that I had the “gift of gab.” Obviously he saw something in me I didn’t see in myself. I’m good over the phone. Good in small groups and one-on-one, but my presentation skills still need to be fine-tuned.

As I pick some grit from my nails I ponder on what else to do for this Sunday afternoon I dreamt about in winter. It is spring, the trees are in bloom – I have looming problems, opportunities and romances. The television is on to keep me company and keep me informed with Newsnet. The pen to paper is my form of intimacy. It’s my old-fashioned digital masturbation.

There goes another siren – shorter this time. It’s time for me to inside and smoke and be alone. Trying, trying very hard to learn to love myself.

Dropouts – poetry

When I first started working in radio I had a lot of dropouts
Poor reception of radio quality on the reel-to-reel
I would bike down to the CBC building on Front Street with my red Yakota bike
That bike was “stoked”
The saddest thing was a light being stolen
Why can people be so mean?
Why do I still remember?
It still happens today
Nine times I’ve worked with dropouts as a teacher and maybe I’m stealing their lights
I only hope the young will beat me in the race, I want them to be rich, I want them to feel worth $10 trillion CDN
I hope that money will be worth a lot globally at least to the end of the invention of the bicycle
That day may have already come.
My bicycle was stolen when it wasn’t locked outside my apartment building on Rue Bryan in Montreal
I bought a red Wheeler with my former sweetheart and brought it with me to Montreal – I left my cat Enid behind in good hands with a woman I used to work at Radio Canada International
The Wheeler sits outside my house unlocked
No one has stolen it for 12 weeks now
It’s time for it to come inside that the weather grows cold
The wheels are flat and need to be replaced
The squirrel who sat on it backwards didn’t mind though
I wonder when science will discover a way to teach squirrels how to ride bikes
Then maybe they could be put to work

Running a Business During the Recession

There can be disadvantages and advantages to running a business during a recession. I have found some promising things happening, as well as some not so promising things as well.

Due to the fact the recession does exist, I am finding it hard for my writers to actually get paid for their work. I feel bad about this because I was really hoping with my advertorial business model that all of my writers would receive an income. So far, although it has been about a month, this is not the case.

The promising news is that there are writers out there who are willing to work on a volunteer basis and this still creates fresh content for my online multimedia magazine Donna. I also plan to dip into my own funds and to transfer some of my VHS content into digital format so I can upload it onto the magazine. This way I can take advantage of the fact that I have been given the opportunity to include video material and to also have a more updated version of my documentaries and video stories.

So far, it also looks as though I will not be getting more work with Humber College and the University of Guelph-Humber for the time being. This is unfortunate because I had really depended on that income, however it is a good thing that I diversify my work. I still do have work with Seneca College, Centennial College and Trebas Institute - so I do not have to feel economically stranded.

My books are doing well. I managed to sell some during the month of May. I am hoping that sales will pick up even more this month. My Roxanne seems to be selling especially well. I also plan to start working on a new book this summer. I was going to work on a book called Story Ideas, however I found that I was not satisfied with what I had and would like to polish it some more. I may change the content of that book and actually turn it into a book of short stories which is something I am interested in writing again.

So...that is my latest update of my business efforts. I am managing to survive during this recession, however I will be very thankful when it is over. I am sure I am not alone in those thoughts.