Although my blogging has been a little sparse lately, one thing I have not been neglecting is research. I have been busy working on the National Genealogical Society's American Genealogy home-study course.
My personal research time has been spent completing the assignments. I have learned a lot, especially about resources in my local area. The course encourages using your own ancestors as the subjects of your assignments, but allows for deviations when you are required to use local resources and you are unlucky enough (like me) to live in a different area.
The title of the course is American Genealogy, but my interests are primarily with my Polish ancestors. The benefit here is that I am getting exposure to some of my neglected family lines and the later lessons involve immigration and naturalization, so eventually I will be able to focus on some of the documents left behind by my Polish families.
Some of the assignments involving families in my local area have provided me with additional motivation I did not anticipate. I realized that I have a desire to learn more about the individuals listed on a deed record or a family listed on church records who are not related to me. I suppose it is the burning curiosity that grips all genealogists--the need to know more and answer our questions about those who were here before us.
My biggest motivation right now is to earn my certificate for this course and continue to develop my skills by practicing what I learned.
