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A couple of weeks ago, I was pondering my immediate future; I've at least got June figured out, so far, and I'm zeroing in on some possibilities for what to do after that. But, I'd be grateful for any advice and guidance you could provide.

I'm doing well in braille class and should have no problem completing the third book of the three book series in the next four weeks. That is my main goal for the month of June. The braille course consists of one, sometimes two, hours of instruction per day and exercises for me to complete on my own. While I've been spending as much time as I can on braille reading and writing exercises, I am still left with time for other studies. With that in mind, and an eye toward acquiring some current computer skills; I will be taking a one-week, one-credit course in Visual BASIC, starting Monday. I think that this coming week is going to be an extremely busy one -- that V-word scares me. But it is from the biggest challenges that we garner the most satisfaction -- no guts no glory -- so bring it on. It sure beats what I was doing last June, and I don't think I've ever been more psyched for a class.

And what comes after June? July, of course -- but seriously, that's still a little fuzzy although i've got it narrowed down some. There are many more courses I can take at NTC to update my general skill set. There are also some options available to me through the internet, to wit: the University of Phoenix and, what I'm currently leaning toward, certification in Data Base Administration (DBA) from Oracle. I found a web-site for a company called OraWorld, which provides training geared to assist members in passing the certification tests, as well as many online resources to help its members stay on top of new developments and maintain certification. Oracle has its own educational programs too, and I am still evaluating the cost/benefit ratios; but from what I can tell from the reading I've done to date, OraWorld looks like a better value. Either way, though, I'd have to take the same tests to gain Oracle's seal of approval.

So what do you think? Am I on the right track? Is there something else that you believe I should be considering? There are so many possibilities and so few that are the right choice for me. I know that ultimately it is I who have to make the choice but, somehow, I feel like I'm overlooking the obvious. I'm at the crossroads with my turn-signal on, foot poised over the accelerator . . . any ideas?

I had this past week off from school, and I had last weekend off from writing, and I'm ready to get back to the books. I don't know if I can get anything set up for July or not but I doubt it, so I've got to decide on a novel to read when I finish my braille course . . . that ought to keep me busy until the fall semester begins. I'm getting faster but I still read braille at a very slow rate, so I need to choose a book that keeps me interested enough to keep turning the pages . . . any ideas?

And while I'm at it, you may have noticed that I've added background music to many of my pages. I've been searching for MIDI (Musical Instrument Digital Interface) files while in the computer lab at NTC. I am learning to use Windows 95 with speech output there and have been exploring the internet using MicroSoft Internet Explorer. I don't even have a sound card in my computer here at home, so I can't even listen to the MIDI music here. If you come across a song that you really like, and that you think would be suitable for one of my pages, send me the file (.mid) and I'd be happy to add it to my collection.

I've done a lot of programming in BASIC before and I have some idea how Visual BASIC is different, but I think that I can be sure that by the end of next week I will know just what "object oriented" means.