PDP - Updated

Life purpose/Mission:

-To work towards something I find to be of personal value in which I can physically see the results of my labor.
-To be presented with new challenges each day causing me to change and adapt as I progress in my chosen career.
-To have a independent side to my work, not necessarily be my own boss (however if possible it would be nice at some point).
-Travel as much as I can while by responsibilities are few.
-Start a family some day

Dreams/Goals:

-Short Term:

• Take the G.R.E
• Find some interesting internships to apply to
• Gain more experience in fire ecology, work on a burn crew
• Travel as much as possible or at the very least live somewhere outside of the Midwest.

-Long Term:

• Graduate School
• Find a more permanent job or project

Values:

-My two highest values are my family and my close friends.
-I value hard and honest work.
-I value supporting ones local community.

Lessons/Mistakes:

-The old saying "Those who do not learn from their mistakes are doomed to repeat them" is most often true in my opinion. I have learned some of the most important lessons through trial and error.



Accomplishments:

-Keep track of all successes in life, however, do not dwell in the past.

Update: Find four jobs to apply to this winter break and a couple of graduate schools to look into. 

-Created a profile on the americorp.gov to begin the process of applying for a couple of positions out in California and Colorado that are related to my current area of study - environmental science. Each position offers an education stipend as well as student loan deferrals during the extent of employment. The positions have a possible length of over a year of employment and being involved with americorp is a great resume builder. I am continuing to search for new job openings and plan to start sending out applications and resumes over winter break. 

-I looked into the graduate programs at Southern Illinois University and University of Minnesota. These programs interested me because I have experience as well as contacts at each school. I had the opportunity to visit Southern Illinois University last spring where I became acquainted with some current graduate students as well as a couple professors. University of Minnesota - St. Paul interested me because I spent the last summer assisting a couple of students that are in the natural sciences program perusing a PhD. Working full time with them helped me to meet some of the faculty as well as get an idea of what the program is like. Also the U of M is practical because of its proximity to my family.

Criteria for "Environmental Effects..." article

When reading a scientific article you must not let yourself be persuaded into believing every detail of that particular paper is true. Many times authors tend to be bias about their own research or other research cited in the paper. Things can easily be skewed or taken out of context unless you have a thorough understanding of the material.

The criteria I follow when reading an article are as follows:
-Are all sources credible and cited within the paper. Sources should be peer reviewed and as recent as possible.
-Are all methods used in the experiment explained and replicable.
-Does the paper clearly separate fact from assumption.

In order to pick out the truth from an article such as the one posted on D2L,  I would start by following this criteria. It also does not hurt to read a little further, into other relevant articles. Find articles with the opposite findings and try to find the middle ground between to two.