A week in a life of an online student.....


     College life is a difficult transition for any student.  Adjusting from the life of a high school senior to becoming an independent adult can sometimes feel like a daunting task.  The same can be said about life as a non-traditional student.  As a full-time employee of Coastal Carolina University Department of Public Safety and a parent of two young children, I knew furthering my education was going to be a difficult task.  The only way that I could make it work would be to find an online program that fit my educational goals.  Luckily Coastal Carolina University developed a Master’s Degree in Education with a concentration in Instructional Technology.  This program had many pieces that could help me broaden my skills in the world of law enforcement training.
Entering the program was the first step, but now I had to figure out how I would get through the program.  Working full-time, being a husband, and father of two proved to make studying a difficult task.  Most of my time studying was after putting the kids down to bed.  I knew that I could not slight my children during this time.  We would come home, eat dinner, study or do homework from their schools, play, and then put them down to bed.  These are necessary tasks that cannot be ignored with children.  Thus, I found that there were many late nights of studying in order for me to reach my goal of completing the program.  The other thing that helped me through was finding ways to utilize some of my school work in the production of training materials for my job.  This allowed me to complete school work during working hours.  It provided a benefit to me as well as my employers.  I think that was one of the key components to being able to earn my Master’s Degree.  Online programs have the benefit of not having to attend any classes that might pull a student away from other obligations.  This was important in my decision to return to school.  The negative is that the student must find a way to be self-motivated, or they can lose their way really quickly.  The online education provided to me, here at Coastal Carolina University, helped me broaden my skills as an instructor and has taken me to levels that I never imagined for myself.  Even though it was difficult to balance, I do not believe it is unmanageable. 


Written by:
CCU Online Graduate,
Bobby Pellerin

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