Keeping Good Records

My boss gave me a project to do this morning. My frustration grew as I progressed further into the project because the records I needed were not there. Now we are having to reconstruct the records from other sources. Those sources are scattered as well.

One piece of advice I was given early on in my nontrad journey was to keep hard copies of my records. One never knows when one will need to access those records and they may not always be readily available. Modern technology is great, but modern technology also crashes and gets hacked.

Ok, so what kind of records will I need to keep? Here are some suggestions:
1. Non-official transcript: This is usually free. This document will include all the pertinent information from your college career thus far - cumulative GPA, dept. GPA, classes taken and the grade received in each on, number of credits attempted, number of credits completed. This is an oft requested document.
2. DARS (Degree Audit Reporting System) report (or something similar): This document will have your cumulative GPA, your dept. GPA, and the classes you not only have taken, but still need to take in order to graduate. It also has the number of credit hours you have successfully completed as well as how many you still need in order to graduate. You should be checking this information on a regular basis throughout your college career to make sure you are on track to graduate.
3. Grade report: Your "report card". Keep a copy on hand as proof you did take x class and you did get x grade in x class.
4. Class schedule: It is not necessary to keep a hard copy of this from each semester as your grade report will serve as proof you attended the class. However, it's good to keep a hard copy of the current semester as non-official proof of your enrollment.

All the other normal records usually asked for (birth certificate, driver's license number, social security number, etc.) should always be within easy access for you but no one else. Twitter and Facebook got hacked yesterday. Common sense says that you should not put your vital information online (social security number, credit card numbers, etc.).

Who knows what value those hard copies of information may have one day? Your great grandchildren may be fascinated by the fact that you had to take Elementary Underwater Basketweaving as a requirement for your Liberal Arts degree and that you got a B+ in it! Stay tuned . . .

Stuff

This is one of those catch-all, update, not doin' much o' nuthen posts. It's been an exciting week.

First of all, I can finally put a shoe on the broken foot. It's not 100% yet - probably more like 85%. Still, it's getting there. I was on the treadmill at the gym this morning for the first time in over a month! I know I won't be able to run for at least another 6 weeks.

I have been in contact with several people regarding my German POW camps in Tennessee project. I received an email from a lady whose father served in the army at Camp Forrest (Tullahoma, TN) as a supply officer. She had many wonderful experiences to share with me. She will be a good source of information for any future presentations on the subject. I also emailed a history teacher in Tullahoma who had contacted me last winter about my research. She wants me to come speak to her class about the POWs at Camp Forrest.

I am excited my research is coming together and I will have an outlet for it other than writing a paper. The University of Tennessee has a Center for the Study of War and Society. The Center awards fellowships to graduate students who are studying some aspect of war. One of the fellowships is given to a graduate student who is studying an aspect of WWII. That's me! The presentation, the opportunity to share with others what I know and the fellowships all serve to increase my motivation to dig into my research and do a good job with it.

School is right around the corner and I will able to present to my thesis prof and class what I have discovered through my research. I am excited about that! My new advisor is also the prof who is mentoring my thesis. He is a WWII historian. Very cool! The pieces seem to be falling into place for my thesis - not sure exactly what the topic will be yet, but I know it will be about the POW camps.

I realize it is a bit nerdy to be excited about research. Fine. Just call me the "Histonerd". Stay tuned . . .