| Week One Open Forum One piece of history that struck me as interesting is during the early 1800s, women played a larger role than I had expected. Although men may have done the grunt work on a farm or ranch, the women gardened and tended to the smaller animals, as well as took care of the family and the house. The reason I was so surprised by this, is because I had always thought that up until the women’s rights movement, women were only responsible for taking care of home and the children. I have realized that I do not have much insight into my topic of choice. I know of famous women, like Amelia Earhart and Rosa Parks, but other than specific women I learned about in high school, I do not have much knowledge on how women in general have impacted the history of the United States. I feel that I have been struggling with choosing women or the African American culture. I would like to know the history of both topics. I feel that I may stick with the topic I originally chose, which is Women. However, I have been reading through the resources and our text books, and I find myself concentrating more on African American History. Some helpful tips I have picked up over the last year and half is to utilize the Ashford Writing Center, and get assignments done earlier, rather than later. The Ashford Writing Center has so many great resources, and I try to utilize all of them when writing a paper or even doing discussions. Grammarly and the paper review tools are the resources I use the most. Also, I have caught myself getting caught up in everyday life and my busy schedule and I tend to push school away until the last minute. I definitely understand what instructors and student advisors mean when they say “Life Happens”. I have noticed that if I get homework done sooner, I am not stressing to get the the homework done before the deadline. I do not have any questions regarding the assignments are readings at this time. However, I am always open to sharing ideas with instructors and other students. | 
