Should You Pursue an Online Degree Program?

It's not news that getting a college degree will help you financially - this is now common knowledge. And we would all agree that in this global economic crisis, the more education you have the better you'll fare in the job market. But it's worth looking at some of the larger reasons why starting an online degree program is a great idea.

The first reason is that it will force you to learn new things. It's not a pretty thing to admit, but most of us need a little nudge when it comes to learning new things. Human nature, as we all know from personal experience, tends to prefer the easy to the difficult. If you've always dreamed about owning your own business, you'll probably need to read many books and talk to many people - and all of this requires work and effort. If you enroll in an online degree program in business, you'll have a curriculum that will push you along.

Here's one obvious, but often overlooked benefit of going to college - you'll have to read dozens of books. For bookworms this is a pleasing prospect, but for many Americans today, the thought of reading more than a cereal box is not promising. Yet despite our resistance to the time and effort it takes to read, we all know that learning, thinking and knowledge are tied to reading - and overall success in an online degree program.

Did you notice that as soon as you left high school you started doing less and less new things? Do you find that you don't discover new ideas and pastimes the way you once did? If that's the case - don't worry - because in your online degree program, you'll have to take courses that are bound to expose you to new things. Even if you love computers and are majoring in computer science, you'll still have to satisfy a science or English requirement, for example, and you never know what interest that will spark.

The world is not a simple place. Find that you can't always follow the details of the country's economic, financial and political challenges? Perhaps it's because you never took a class in economics or politics. As a university student you'll have to choose a number of electives to gain the necessary credits to graduate, and who knows, you might just take a political science class and get fired up enough to run for city council. Until you've been introduced to a new subject in a thoughtful, engaging way, you'll never know if it's something you'll develop a real interest in.

Perseverance is most certainly a virtue, and if you plan to complete your online degree program, you'll have to develop perseverance. And while it's certainly true that you can develop this virtue in any number of fields or life situations, finishing you degree will require you to make a consistent effort, and in the end, you will only benefit from this kind of effort.

There's no doubt that starting an online degree program is the right move for your financial future, but don't overlook the fact that you'll also have the opportunity to learn and grow as a person and as a citizen as you study for your degree.

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Are We Seeing the End of Lead Ammunition?

It was Friday evening and my friend Wayne and I were having one of our usual survival topic conversations and the topic eventually got around to lead shot for shells. It seems that Wayne had notice something somewhere which stated that many of the states are considering banning Lead content in bullets and shotgun shells.

This of course got my creative juices flowing and after our conversation ended I decided to investigate this situation a little bit further. Since lead was a toxic type material it certainly would hold some merit at outlawing it for the sake of the environment and personal health. My first question that I asked myself was what are the alternatives? Do we currently have a lead free bullet at all?

Upon doing my research I discovered that some states such as California has already taken the liberty to ban lead ammunition in any area where endangered California condors may possibly reside. These large birds have been known to feed upon the various scrapes of meat which are usually left behind by the hunters after they field dress their kill. The problem stems from these scrapes containing residual lead shot. Lead position has been cited as the primary cause of Condor deaths in the area. In addition they have expressed some concern about the bullets not only contaminating the ecosystem but possibly affect people as well. Other states are actively promoting the non-use of lead shells and ammo such as Arizona, Utah, Minnesota and North Dakota. It would be only at matter of time before many other states will start to follow suit.

That still did not answer my inquiry as to an alternative material for creating bullets. Additional web searching revealed the use of copper as the alternative of choice for lead. Without doubt whenever there is controversy there are several sides to the issue. Major gun lobbies argue that the bans on lead bullets are simply unfounded and the lead poses no risks what so ever.

Lead free bullets have been around now for a number of years however it is just during the current green demands that they have gained visibility to the public. As any gun fan knows lead is the major component of ammo and has been pinpointed as a compound which lowers the IQ of many children in America today. There are numerous groups which desire to eliminate lead in any way, shape or form in the interests of the habitat and protecting the environment.

Hunters complain that the alternates proposed to replace lead in bullets have increased the cost of the shells. In America alone the gun groups spend in excess of $1.08 billion dollars per year on bullets alone.

As of late there has been a tremendous leap in the number of manufacturers of the lead free ammo. Most of the companies which make the copper bullets claim that the new style ammo outperforms the older lead type. In the market place today you can readily find major name businesses such as Winchester or Remington creating their own lead free ammunition.

It is even getting to the point where some of the nations firing ranges have begun to ban the use of the lead ammo for various safety concerns. Since the largest user of lead ammunition has always been the military is it contended that these lead bullets have contaminate major military training areas across the nation and are quickly becoming the primary concern of many environmental agencies.

Although recent tests and research conducted upon meat shot with lead bullets have been conducted the findings are not completely conclusive. It does appear that the meat can contain some what of an elevated level of lead further testing will need to be completed. Even with these meager facts several health departments have advised that meat shot with lead bullets not be given to high risk groups such as young children or to pregnant women.

Copyright @ 2009 Joseph Parish

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What You Need to Know to Improve Your Study Skills

Improving your study skills will make you a better student when taking tests and exams for any subject. Students who struggle to perform on tests do so for a variety of reasons. A big reason why certain students struggle is a failure to prepare properly. Students may be studying but not fully using their time wisely. This article will talk about how motivation and a desire to be great is the fundamental building block to success.

Tiger Woods is a classic example of motivation and a desire to be great, having that motivation and desire means going to the driving range and hitting 1000 golf balls everyday. But how do you get motivated or if you perceive to not have motivation how do you develop it. The answer is to find what motivates you. What I mean by that is what do you want to accomplish. Not knowing what you want to achieve makes it very difficult to get motivated.

Motivation and desire are often not always the difference between a great student and a good student. Its the difference the majority of times between a good student and a student who just gets by. Improving your study skills takes commitment and a desire to want to change. In essence you have to be motivated to make that change. Motivation can happen very quickly if you make the conscience decision to embrace it. That is the point of this article and how it relates to improving your study skills. To improve you must focus on it, set goals and get motivated to learn new study skills and then apply them. If you do you will see results in the classroom and exams guaranteed.

I have written a ton of articles on tips and study suggestions but without goals, desire and motivation all these tips will not help you. Students who graduate Magna Cum Laude have the desire to be great in school. They have a focus, they make sacrifices and they are motivated to complete a task to the best of their ability. If you want to be great at whatever you do strive for it and don't stop until you reach your goals.

My motivation was to become a better student by learning how to improve my study skills and also learning how to increase my study speed. Motivation will help you become a better student guaranteed but you have to find it and use it. As mentioned before becoming a better student is learning how to increase your study speed. A website you can go to to learn the benefits of speed studying is here SpeedStudyMethod.com Imagine how well of a test taker you will be when you can study twice the material in half the time. My motivation was because I had more time to focus on other things. There are many benefits to using this method of studying. I used this method and was able to finish my undergrad in 3 and half years and currently I carry a 3.79 in my MBA program. If you want to be a better student follow these tips and check the website out you won't regret it.