Making myself a hard copy of the class.

So since my Career Step access expires in a year, I decided to copy and paste it all into a word document and print it out for my own hard copy. I figured.. if I'm spending this much money on a course, I should be able to go back to it any time I want to, right? So far, I only have the first 2 modules printed out, quizzes and all. It helps too because I get to review the first 2 modules that I already learned. The first module was just an introduction to the course and an overview of the website so it wasn't too important. The second module was about computer knowledge.. so still, not that important as it hasn't touched on anything really medical coding and billing related. I finally just want to get into the good stuff! The 3rd module is when I should finally begin learning something. After I complete the 3rd module, I'm going to copy it into a word document. The only thing about it is that it takes forever! The 3rd module is definitely going to be over 120 pages if I continue to type it out at the font and size that I'm using.

Who knows, for the next modules, I may just change the font and make the size small or something so I don't waste too much paper. But then again, I'm using scratch paper that I collect at work so at least I'm not using new printer paper or anything. But yeah... today for a few hours I was copying my work onto word and it took forever. I literally stopped working just to do class stuff. Hopefully my co-worker wasn't too annoyed, but then again, I don't think she has the right to be. She knows I'm a hard worker and that of the 2 of us, I'm the one that's there more of the time. She's always randomly out. Pretty much almost once a week. That can get pretty annoying... anyway. I guess we'll see how I feel about when to copy the class onto word. I need to find a shorter way to say that. "Make a hard copy of Module #x"? Or just.. "make a hard copy" <- I guess that works lol. But yeah. I looked into the study planner and I have a goal of completing the class by June 30, 2014, which means I have a goal of completing the class a month early.

Maybe I can complete it sooner, because when I look at the schedule, according to the schedule, I don't have to start the 3rd module until August 12th... I don't know if I want to take that long of a break. I may just have to adjust the study planner and maybe put in a goal of finishing by the end of May instead if I want to follow a schedule to stay on track. But yeah. I'm pretty sure I'm going to start the 3rd module tomorrow. It's like 79 pages so I probably won't finish it..but at least I can get it started.. and I'll probably make a hard copy of it at the same time.. to save time. And of course I have to copy down all the correct answers to the quizzes and stuff and use it as a study guide later. But yeah, anyways! Oh and the program mananger at UCR-E finally got back to me and told me that they made the $325 adjustment. I just don't know if or when I'll see the change in my bank account. I hope I do.. otherwise I have no idea of knowing.. until maybe I see my statement?

Hmm..but yeah.. oh and my textbooks are coming soon! I got an email from UPS and they said that my package is supposed to arrive August 2nd! I think that's this Friday. Maybe I can go visit my parents and pick it up and then go back to my boyfriend's after work or something. Yeah... this is all very exciting to me. I like taking classes again. At first I was a little uncomfortable with it because it takes me a day or 2 to adjust to the change but so far I like it. It gives me something to think about and do..so I can get my mind off other things that have been eating me up inside so I guess that's good. But anyway.. until next time.

Class is so exhausting!

I did the second module today. So far I finished 2 modules total. I don't know if I was suppose to take a break in between or what but I wanted to see what was next. Overall I still really like the course. But it's so long though. The first module was 23 pages. The second one is 57. I took a peek at the next one and it's like 71 pages D: It's just really long, and what takes me even longer is that I take notes in between. I need to find a better way to jot down notes. I am thinking of printing out all the pages so I can just highlight stuff. I think I need a hard copy of stuff because I get tired of typing/writing. Probably during my down time at work I'll print out stuff. So far I haven't been able to have any free time at all. I've been drowned in work the past 2 days, it was ridiculous. But yeah.. I'm not sure how the schedule goes yet but if I want to be done by May 2014, I think I need to do 3 modules a week? I'll have to go through the study planner again. But yeah.. I think I want to finish in May.. or the middle of June.. we'll see or if I'm really cutting it close, then the beginning of July lol.

But yeah... I hope I don't have too many problems with the course. The module today was about computer knowledge. Honestly, I thought it was so boring. I felt like I was in a computer class. I just want to get to the real stuff already! The next module I finally get to dive into the real stuff but the class is just so long. Today the 57 page class took me 6 hours to get through D: Yeah, I need to find a way to make it go by quicker. Is that even possible? Maybe I should just go the way I've been going, but it feels like such a drag and sometimes studying at my boyfriend's place is so distracting. It's nice in our room but then the dogs make too much noise. Then when my boyfriend comes home, he wants to watch TV so I go study in our other room. But then our other room is too hot. I have made a note to bring my mini fan over so hopefully it'll be a little more bearable. Today after work I stayed at my desk for almost half an hour because I had already started studying lol.

After every few pages in the class, they give you little quizzes and at the end of the module, they give you a module exam. So far I've gotten at least an 80% or above on all of them but to me that's unacceptable so I go back and re-take it until I get 100% on all of them. My goal is to do that for all the of modules. I better do well on the final exam if I keep it at this rate. But yeah, I really need to get back into school mode. During study time I sometimes zone out and get so tired..and it doesn't help that I'm a little sick right now. I still haven't gone back to the gym in a while. I just need to figure out how often I'm gonna take classes and then balance everything again. I just also want to give myself time to review what I just learned before fully moving on to the next module. But yeah....I hope I get my books soon. Until next time!

First day of "class"!

I thought my first day would be tomorrow but I got my login information today so I got started as soon as I got home. Today was such a long day. It was a long day at work. I was swamped and was basically using 10-key for 8 hours. It's never been like that for me before here and I was scared I was gonna get carpel tunnel. Anyway, after work, I went to go visit my parents and went shopping for some last minute wedding stuff. Then I went back to my parent's house, washed my car, then headed home to shower and have dinner and began on my class. It was chaotic for a while because my boyfriend's cousin dropped by so they were talking and catching up in the same room I was studying. Also, when people come visit the house, the 2 dogs bark like crazy..so that's even MORE noise.. plus my boyfriend's parents are over, plus my "brother in law", "sister in law" and their 2 kids. Yeah, just a freakin full house. "Brother in law" and "sister in law" are in quotes because we aren't married obviously.

But anyways. Theres like 20 classes in the course. I think they're called modules. So far I finished the first one which was the Program Orientation. Tomorrow I'll start the second one. It's 57 pages long! I need to get used to that. It will take me a few hours I think. Today was only 23 pages long but it took me forever but that's probably because I'm still getting into the swing of being in school mode.. plus there were so many distractions today. Hopefully I have some down time at work so I can study in between working lol. But yeah. I guess that's all for now. I announced it to facebook that I'm back in school and now I'm catching up with an old college friend. That's all for now.

Waiting until I can start learning

I think I'll get my user ID and login information on Monday or Tuesday. At least I still have the weekend to relax a bit. Not that I want to or anything. I want to start learning already and seeing what they have. I still have to determine how much studying I'll do a week. Maybe 2-3 hours a day? I want to at least be done in 10 months or so.. so we'll see how much I have to study to accomplish that goal. I don't want to be done in the very last minute. I'm thinking to be mostly done by 10 months so I have 2 months to study for the class final exam. But yeah... I still need to wait for my login information. I also emailed them asking them about the tuition discount and if they don't reply, then I'll call them on Monday and ask again. I really want that discount. I don't want a laptop I've decided. I already have a mac and it hasn't let me down so yeah. And probably the laptop they send me won't even be worth $325... or would it? Lol whatever. Anyway that's all I wanted to say today.

I officially enrolled!!

I officially enrolled in the UCR Extensions program for medical coding and billing... So far I received an e-mail receipt confirmation but they didn't include the $325 off tuition... so I don't know when that's gonna take place... if it hasn't gone into effect yet by Monday I'm pretty sure I'm going to call them. I want to see what's up. My dad says he thinks they'll mail me a check later so we'll see. No where on the website clarifies it so that's kind of annoying. But yeah... now I guess I'm just gonna play the waiting game. I know with CS they mail you your login and password within a few minutes but for UCR I haven't received anything yet. I was kind of nervous to sign up but I just got it over with. Both my parents are proud that I'm going back to "school". I'm glad I can make them proud. I know my dad has really wanted me to go back to school so I'm glad I can do this for him. Until next time!

Maxim Staffing

Someone else from Maxim Staffing e-mailed me today with a job! It's with the LA County Dept of Public Health and it makes about 38,000 annually which is about 19 dollars an hour.. if of course it isn't salary. Just for that I am interested. They told me to e-mail them back with my resume if I think I'm a good fit. I wasn't sure if I was a good fit but I gave them my resume anyway. If anything I can learn right? They have to train me anyway. I just hope I get it. 38,000 is a lot!! The job description is a senior typist clerk. I am a great typist. Hopefully if they are interested in interviewing me, I don't screw up during the interview. And it sucks right now because I just came down with a cold :( If anything, I just want my normal speaking voice back because now it sounds like I'm sick. This sucks.. But yeah.... Please oh please. I just want to break into the medical field in any way that I can!! I think working with the LA County would be so great for me!! Wish me luck out there! Oh yeah and I still haven't enrolled in the class yet. I will do it later today.

Tomorrow's the day...

So I've made up my  mind. Tomorrow between afternoon and after work, I'm gonna sign up for the medical billing and coding class. I have decided to go with the UCR Extension's program. I initially wanted to sign up with Career Step but after I learned that UCR has the same curriculum and is a little bit cheaper, I decided to go that route. Tyson from Career Step told me the curriculum is exactly the same.. so I shouldn't be missing out on anything. Today at work I looked at the UCR Extension website and pretended to enroll to see what the process would look like. It turns out that I needed to log in or create an account with the website so I clicked on new user and when I tried to sign up with my e-mail, they told me that my e-mail was already in the system. I called the UCR Extension to ask them if I already have an account with them. I let them know that I am alumni and if that had anything to do with it. They said most likely. I told them the e-mail I tried to create the account with and they were able to pull up my information. Then they e-mailed me an activation link where I could create my password.

After doing so, I logged into the UCR Extension and added the class in my cart. I checked the box indicating that I want the discount instead of the laptop but when I click the checkout button, the tuition prices go back to full price. It doesn't say that I get the discount.. so that's where I stopped with what I was doing. I didn't want to enter in my credit card information because I'm not sure what amount they're going to charge. I called my dad and I told him that I'd go see him after work so we can do this together and that he can see the screen that I'm seeing. Maybe I'm just supposed to enter in my credit card information and I'll be able to see the price changes after? If not, I will just call the UCR Extension back.. or e-mail them back asking them to give me the difference... I do have their phone number and the e-mail for refunds and stuff.. so hopefully I am able to get the discount. I should anyway.. I am enrolling before the end of July. Ahh I hope this is all worth it!!!

OH YEAH, another thing to mention: So I've been submitting my resume to Maxim Staffing which is a temp agency for the medical field. Today someone named Jesse e-mailed me and asked me to send over my resume. I did so, and explained to him that I currently have no medical background experience and that I am interested. I told him that I'm taking classes (well I will be tomorrow) to get certified. I hope that helps me. I haven't gotten an e-mail back.. hopefully my explanation in my e-mail didn't turn him off. I would be sad lol. I really have no leads right now after I get laid off in September so I need all the help I can get. Yesterday I also e-mailed my current agency letting them know my end date and they haven't responded at all. I find that they aren't that reliable and it's best for them to let them contact you when you want. When you try to contact them it might take days to hear back from them. I have no idea why. Are they really that busy? I guess so.... well anyways.

I guess that's all I have to say right now. I am kinda coming down with a cold I think. The bachelorette party I attended this past weekend in Vegas was pretty fun.. which is probably why I got sick :/ Hopefully I'm better by the beginning of August. I don't want to be sick for my friends wedding. I am a bridesmaid! Eeks. Anyways, until next time. You'll most likely hear from me tomorrow.