This is a letter I just wrote to the governor of New Jersey upon receipt of an e-mail from the president of my college saying that there is a proposal to merge my college with Rutgers.

Here it is.

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Dear Sir,

I believe strongly in having a balanced budget and curbing government spending. However, I do not believe that merging Thomas Edison University and Rutgers would be in the best interests of everyone. Thomas Edison fulfills a unique station in the nation and indeed the world in being one of the only upstanding universities that offers students the ability to study from a distance while continuing with life. Thomas Edison also allows students to take standardized tests instead of wasting time “learning” introductory concepts that they already know.

Thomas Edison has a reputation for being excellent in providing distance learning, and they have that reputation because they have worked hard to get it.

On your website, you state that one of your goals is improving higher education. As a student of Thomas Edison State University, I believe that your wishes to make New Jersey a better state for higher education are on track. I also believe that Thomas Edison State University will better help you achieve those goals separate from Rutgers.

You and I have something in common. We both chose a school outside our native state. You chose the University of Delaware, and I chose Thomas Edison. My main reason for choosing Thomas Edison is that unlike countless colleges and universities across the world, Thomas Edison allows people to get a solid education from a reputable university without stopping everything else and moving into a dorm. Moms, dads, businessmen, middle aged people who did not have a chance to attend college right out of high school, and most importantly military personnel, both men and women are able to get an education while serving our country.

Mentioning our military brings me to my second to last point. Thomas Edison is the best higher education resource that many in the United States military have. Yes, military personnel can use the GI bill to pay for college when they are finished serving our country at any old college. However, for many of them, it is too late to get a degree when they get out. Through Thomas Edison, they are able to get a quality education while they serve. Many of my classmates are in the Navy serving on ships, or in some other branch of the military doing their job for our country. They get a chance at higher education through Thomas Edison’s distance learning excellence.

Now I will give you my last reason, and while the previous reason is a good one, this one effects me personally the most. As a prospective college student, I studied many colleges in the United States. Overall, I considered more than 100. I was surprised to find how many of those colleges employ people to teach who have no practical knowledge of the subjects that they teach. They only have theoretical knowledge. Think of the audacity of someone attempting to teach you all you need to know about being a lawyer or a U.S. attorney who had never set foot in a courtroom, and had never worked on a case. You would want your money back, unless all you really wanted was a piece of paper. I want more than just a piece of paper, and that is why I have enjoyed finding out that the professors for the classes that I have taken at Thomas Edison have actually worked in the fields that they teach about.

Sir. That is why I ask you to help New Jersey, and the rest of the world out by keeping Thomas Edison State University, "Thomas Edison State University," and not a branch of Rutgers.

I don't normally write letters to people in office, but I think that from now on, I might do it on a regular basis on subjects that I am deeply familiar with. Right now I just need to get back to studying. And NO, I don't normally write that much, even to save my life. It must be all this college work.

At the moment I'm studying for the Prior Learning Assessment (PLA) that I start submitting stuff for next month. That is in addition to the tests that I'm taking regularly. The PLA differs from all of the other stuff I've been working on in that you have to document how you learned the material, there's no test or course to take. The whole process is frying the little gray cells to the point of no return.
But it's all fun.
Anyway, I've reached the 90 credit mark and am still on schedule to graduate in the spring. After that...... No Idea.

Thankfully God knows and He will direct me in the best path to take.

Just got back from a wonderful action packed weekend down south... The festival went well, and even though I still wasn't able to keep up with the orchestra pieces most of the time I still had a blast playing Russian symphony music:) We camped in the dorms this year, which contributed to the >five hours of sleep/night. Played Kemps with some random people, and some not so random people. (No, it's not the cows, it's a card game apparently)
Maybe I'll post some pictures later...
Thanks to Johnson's for letting us stay at your place, we all enjoyed the time immensely. Not to mention I learned how to play Boggle and Taboo....

Now back to "normal."

Good night and God Bless.

My life has just been flying by. But as I start journaling more (thanks Mr. Lang for the encouragement), I might find more to write about. The major thing that happened was Journey to the Heart. For those who don't know, it is a 10 day "Journey" put on by IBLP that focuses on Heart conditions, and having a closer walk with God. The week was eventful. We got to meet some Romanian police officials, go to the Pacific Garden Mission, take two 8 hour bus rides, go street witnessing, experience one accord with 14 other guys (really neat), and most importantly, deepen our relationships with God. God showed me a lot during that time, how I had placed more value on a lot of different things than I was placing on Him. We experienced true fellowship with God and each other. It is definitely worth the money...I would encourage everybody I know who can to take a Journey to the Heart and see what God does. I guess the verses that stood out to me were mostly in Psalm 119. I'm thinking of memorizing it once I get done with the stuff I'm working on. We also did a lot of blessing, a lot of confessing our faults to God and each other, and praying as a group.

This was a pumpkin we saw on the way down...


The on the air light at the Old Light House.

The View out our window. With four inches of snow on the ground and more coming every day; it was fun:)
 

Ben hiding behind Caleb.

Marty and Thomas playing; Ethan laughing at something. Must have been really funny...


....because Ethan was still laughing from the same thing in this picture.


Steven "Tucker" Tucker...


Brock and I just before we left. Great times.


We've been moving a bit of dirt recently. A dump truck came and dropped off 10 or 12 yards and it only looks a little smaller after a couple of weeks.



Stormy decided to help out. She was actually cruising for a little while.



Here I am on top of the pile.

Everybody had to try on  my new hat...






French style...



Fascinating...



At the Korean War Memorial I just had to pose. ..

The whole group...



Stormy trying on shades on my birthday.









night lights...



We've been working on a little screen porch for Mom, and keeping it as a surprise.
So today we finally showed it to her...
that's all folks.
God Bless