Ada Lovelace Day...

Brilliant women exist in almost every profession that exists. As the site states, the majority of what people are writing about here deals with women who are involved in science or technology.

The most prominant woman that comes to mind quickly is Marie Curie. Out of the many women who have achieved great things as well as fame, Curie is on the forefront. A quick snippet about her:
- She was well respected, gaining recognition throughout the world through her work regarding radioactivity and x-rays.

Truthfully, the reason that I wanted to post here was to show that there is another profession that rivals the greatest scientific achievement or technology. We need to recognize those women that have achieved great things outside the scientific and academic community. The achievements of providing for a family is something that should hold merit. The love that women give their children and partners is also something that is a proven achievement. The profession that we need to recognize, is that of a loving mother. Not just a mother, because God knows that some mothers aren't fit, but a LOVING mother.

One person that I'm extremely proud of and who doesn't have any ties to the scientific or technology communities, and who holds this profession is my mom.

My mom gave up so much of her time and energy raising me and my siblings. She attended tons of soccer, t-ball, basketball practices/games, and took me to the doctor when I was sick or hurt. My mom washed our clothes, kept them on our backs, and kept us in line. We got a spanking if we needed it and were taught respect and discipline.

Mom would read to us, tell us stories of her childhood, and play games with us. Even when she was sick and not feeling well, she made sure that our needs were met. There were many times when she was up all night with us as we vomited due to a stomach bug or shivering because of a high fever. Part of the reason I can appreciate these things so much now, is that I have my own children. How many times when you were a kid, did your mom say, "Wait until you have your own kids, then you'll understand." Our typical answer until we have our own kids is usually, "Ya ok, whatever", or something like that. It makes me laugh to think about those words now.

A loving mother is what helps to shape a childs future. Many mannerisms, attitudes, and values are given to us through our mothers. They help to shape our personalities and nurturing spirits. They help us through our adversity, pain, and sorrows. They are there to laugh with us, cry with us, and comfort us. These are the things of a loving, giving mother.

As we celebrate Ada Lovelace Day, we also need to celebrate the joys of motherhood and the positive aspects that these women bring to us in past, present, and future.

Final Paper Project - Possible Idea?

I was looking at possibly doing my paper on Virtual Learning Environments: How technology and virtual environments are impacting our newest generation's learning styles.

Specifically, I want to look at the positive and negative aspects of these learning environments and how they are shaping the way that our kids learn. In the arugment I want to look at how virtual environments are being used in games to help kids learn, the social isolation aspect of these environments, and to what extent these environments have "expanded" or "retarded" learning capacities.

I chose to do this area of research because I have children of my own and want to understand more of "how they learn" and what is changing in their learning environments, specifically virtual ones.