Distance Learning Helps One Family Go the Distance!

My family will never be described as a family of academic achievers. Some people seem born for school, but not us. Don’t get me wrong.  We are intelligent and motivated. We just don’t see the appeal of sitting still for hours on end to have someone tell us a bunch of facts we could just as easily have researched on our own. None of us could picture ourselves going on to college, so we didn’t.

Schools that offer online degrees have made it possible for intelligent, skilled people to get the degrees they need to document and validate their talents and abilities.

Later, of course, we regretted that decision. We realized we should have found a way to tame our unconventional styles and get the degree. Without it, we each respectively found ourselves hitting an invisible professional ceiling that impeded our upward mobility. A few decades ago, our story would have ended there.

The Digital Age

Fortunately for us, the digital age offers a life-changing solution to our genetic inability to sit in a classroom.

Distance learning schools provide the opportunity to obtain the coveted degree without locking ourselves into a brick-and-mortar classroom for two to four years.

My brother recognized the opportunity first. At 27, he had spent years in low-paying temp jobs. Although the frequent change of employment suited his restless nature, the compensation left a lot to be desired. To add insult to injury, he usually contributed much more to the project he was hired for than his job description indicated. He had an uncanny aptitude for project management, was often able to identify the processes and policies that needed fixing, and could articulate the steps required for modifying and improving the system. While this earned him the admiration and gratitude of his short-term employers and co-workers, it did little to improve his financial situation or career prospects.

Getting A Degree

He envisioned himself consulting as a project manager, but had difficulty marketing himself because he didn’t have the degree to back up his skills. After a little research, he realized he could rectify the situation. He got a distance learning degree in Bachelor of Science Information Technology Project Management. The change was amazing. With a degree in his portfolio, the managers who had previously brushed past the glowing recommendations he had received from his temp jobs started to read the reports more carefully. Soon, his consulting business was up and running. His career satisfies his need for movement and change, while the degree satisfies his potential clients’ need for accreditation.

Today, all my siblings are fans of distance learning. We are at various stages of our academic progress. Some of us are earning bachelors degrees like my brother. Others are getting associate degrees.

Schools that offer online degrees have made it possible for intelligent, skilled people to get the degrees they need to document and validate their talents and abilities.

Now that’s progress!

Jessica writes about a wide variety of topics.  She especially enjoys writing about education. You can learn more about Distance Learning at www.universities.com

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