AU helped me overcome university anxiety—and earn a master’s in education
Transforming Lives: Learners of AU is an ongoing series where real students and alumni share how flexible online learning at Athabasca University (AU) made a difference in their lives and communities. Submit your story.
It all began in February 2020. I was sitting on the pool deck at our local recreation centre watching my two children take swimming lessons while having a heart-to-heart with another home-school mom. I shared with her a desire to pursue a master’s degree in education, with a program specific to home education. I was a home-school parent and an online high school math teacher.
As we visited, I shared my previous struggles with anxiety while studying at university: a deep fear of failure combined with the thinking I was different from everyone else. I longed to be like others and take a “regular” university course load, but anxiety hijacked “normal” and I quit university three times during my undergrad! My goal of graduating with a bachelor of science and teaching certificate became a distant dream.
“I shared my previous struggles with anxiety while studying at university: a deep fear of failure combined with the thinking I was different from everyone else.”
– Elise Hoeppner (Master of Education in Open, Distance Education ’24)
Eventually, I accepted my limitations, took a few courses each semester, and added summer courses to make up lost time. What took most students five years to complete, took me eight years. It followed, therefore, that when considering further study for a master’s degree it would be essential to find a flexible program that allowed me to take one course at a time. Family life required me to maintain calm and remain non-anxious! And, ideally, I wanted to pursue education in online learning.
‘Have you tried Athabasca University?’
As our conversation progressed, my friend leaned over and said, “Have you tried Athabasca University? I think they offer exactly what you are looking for, and exactly what you need!” I made a phone call the next day and registered for the AU Blended and Online Learning and Teaching (BOLT) program. My friend was correct! There was no requirement to commit to the full master’s program. I soon started with a short, six-week, one-credit course just to see if I liked it.
“My friend leaned over and said, 'Have you tried Athabasca University? I think they offer exactly what you are looking for.'”
Beginning my graduate degree with the BOLT program set me up for success in the full Master of Education program 18 months later. Fast forward to this past year when I defended my thesis before Christmas and my degree is now on my wall! I am excited for convocation this month!
My children enrolled at a campus school near the start of my graduate studies, and I continued work as an online teacher.
Athabasca University allowed for a gentle re-entry into my education such that our children barely noticed mom was also in school. A flexible timeframe made it possible to attend to my studies outside of the times they needed me.
Master of Education was ‘life-changing’
The professional development and rigorous academic program I have received through AU’s Master of Education program have been life-giving and life-changing. Specifically, the mentorship and teaching I have received from Dr. Cynthia Blodgett-Griffin has helped shape me into a better teacher. I am now taking on leadership roles within my school’s mathematics department. I look forward to sharing more of my graduate studies’ experience with my admin and colleagues when my master’s is complete.
AU’s Master of Education was the perfect program in both content and structure. I am incredibly grateful to be almost graduated from this top-notch university!
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