Personal Development & Education


12
Apr 07

Moving on…to new opportunities

In my last post, I stated that I was starting college studies with assistant from CollegePlus! (a service of Global Learning Strategies). I also ended the post by saying that something else was in the works that could change everything. Well, both statements are true.

To make a long story short, I recently landed an internship with Global Learning Strategies in the San Antonio Texas area. In exchange for costs associated with a BSBA degree in General Management, I have agreed to work with GLS for at least one year, beginning April 18th. I leave for Texas on April 17th. I will be working in the GLS marketing department and on my studies/degree while I’m down there.

GLS is dedicated to researching innovative learning solutions for higher education and providing academic life coaching services.

To learn more about GLS, please read their mission statement. Also, please read the CollegePlus! overview to learn what it is. If you have high speed internet, and want a flash multimedia presentation of the CollegePlus! service, please click here as well.

I am excited about this opportunity because I can gain new, real-world experience and work on a degree in a distraction-free environment at the same time.


20
Mar 07

2007 Horse Bowl Regional Competiton

Eight team members and two coaches donned green shirts for more than St. Patrick’s Day on Saturday, March 17th. The green polo is the official uniform of the Kandiyohi County Horse Bowl Team, which gathered in Hutchison, MN to compete in Regionals. This year the Kandiyohi County Horse Project sent one junior team, composed of Dylan (third year), Tasha (second year), Matthew (first year) , and MaQuelah (first year).

Only two seniors, Abigail (sixth year) and Lori (third year) were signed up to compete, and so the remaining seats on the team were made up of 12 year old Mark (second year), and Kalina (first year). It was definitely a “building year” for the teams and they did better than expected. Coach Susan was surprised, as it was her first time filling in full time for extremely busy project leader, RaeAnn. She will miss working with the motivated 4-H’ers, assisted by her daughter, Abigail; but confesses it will sure be nice to have five more hours of “free time,” now that the competition is over.


7
Feb 07

Pursuing Higher Education

Many of you know the cost of a college education these days continues to skyrocket at a pace faster than inflation.

A 4 year bachelors degree from a public university can easily cost greater than a total of $40,000 at a public university, including any financial aid you might receive. What about a private college? Yikes! That’s spendy at $100,000 plus or minus. The ROI (return on investment) may not even be worth it at that price, especially if the student winds up in some vocation completely unrelated to the field of their degree (and 80% already do according to statistics). Even with a 529 savings plan and financial aid, a student could still go deep into debt for many years.

Not only does college cost an arm and a leg, it’s taking more time. Some students (and colleges) are spending 5-6 years to complete a 4-year BA.

And what about the brainwashing, negative influences, and pressure to have fun in the college atmosphere?

Can a college degree be cost effective, time efficient, and have excellent quality all at the same time? That’s a good question that’s already been answered by an organization called “Global Learning Strategies.” If you remember back to January of last year, we (the Kraemers) hosted a seminar put on by this organization that addressed all of these questions. See this link for more information.

Global Learning Strategies has a service called CollegePlus! in which an individual is carefully guided step-by-step through the process of obtaining a 4-year, fully accredited Bachelors degree in less than 2 years for a total cost of less than $10,000. Quality of the degree is a priority for CollegePlus! since they don’t want people (like me) to major in test-taking.

Now that I’ve just done a whole infomercial for Global Learning Strategies/CollegePlus!, you are probably wondering: “soooo……what are the Kraemers doing about this?”

Well, I’m glad you asked because I’m here to inform you that I, Joshua Kraemer will begin CollegePlus! coaching and studying for my Bachelor of Science in Business Administration (General Management) on March 1st. I’m living proof that people who take 1+ years off after high school to work and pursue heavy investing can end up going to college.

After March 1st, I will still hopefully be able to work (but only half days max) and study for college (4-6 hours/day) with the rest of my day. That means no more “extra” activity or business pursuits for a while:( But, the idea of finishing a degree in two years or less (1 would be nice) is encouraging.

One last note: I will leave you with a bit of a surprise. Even though this plan is “set in stone,” it could all change at a moment’s notice due to something else exciting. It has nothing to do with Africa, however. I will try to tell you more later. But, that is all for now.


7
Oct 06

Dog Project Year

Lots has happened for me, John Kraemer. One of the major things I did this year was 4-H Dog. 4-H Dog is a project that I attended this year for Dog classes and trainings.

I started out by going to a dog meeting class in April of this year. My leaders (Ron and Anita) talked about the upcoming events that were to happen in the Dog project. The 4-H classes I attended where obedience and showmanship. In Obedience, I had do make my dog(Katie) heel on a leash by my side and then make sit right next to me when I stopped. Other excercises where the stand for exam, recall, long sit and long down.

At the County fair I received a blue ribbon and at state I received a blue ribbon. In showmanship, I was supposed to make Katie stand when I stopped and kinda show her off to the judge. You’re supposed to be happy about your dog and know knowledge about dogs in general. Like, Where did my breed originat and Questions like that. I also receive a blue at county and at state.


5
Oct 06

Mark’s Fair

Wow! We need to keep up on our blog!

The Kandyohi County Fair was August 8-12, a long time ago! I, Mark kraemer, am telling you my story at the county fair.

Making a poster on the things in your body was great fun B). and especially when I won champion in health:>> (I call this my cheesey face!)

For my next project, aerospace, I made a booklet on military cargo planes. Amazingly, I got reserve champion! And I’m not even old enough to go to state yet! I had a great fair and I am looking forward to next year!