The initial responses of my friends and family to the news that I would be studying by distance were more of incredulity than support. How on earth are you going to be motivated to do that? was the common response. How indeed. I had completed my undergraduate degree and been working for a while and I was quite enjoying the money out in the real world. I knew though, that in order to further my career I needed to do further study and decided that the best way to go about this, so as not to sacrifice too many of my real world freedoms, was to study by distance.
I am currently enrolled in, and will soon graduate from (crossing my fingers) a Masters in International Health by distance learning at Curtin University, Western Australia. It is one of many degrees offered by distance in Australia. It has been two years of ups and downs but my choice to take this route has been my best educational decision yet.
Beginning my degree I was at first intimidated by the other students. The notice boards, set up to encourage discussion, share ideas and stress about upcoming assignments were littered with people who I thought were much too senior for me to be engaging with let alone learning with. I read countless introductions that made me feel like a complete amateur in the field, e.g. Hello Im Carla and Ive been working as a nurse with children with HIV/AIDS in Africa for the past 15 years, Im a doctor working with refugees on the Thai/Burma border and my personal favourite, Im the Minister for Health in Pakistan. WHAT?! I felt like a right fool putting my, Hi Im Erin and.Iwent to India for a little while? post. I soon realised that one of the major advantages of my distance education was being able to meet and draw on the knowledge of people who were in my dream field and who Id never come across on any university campus.
During my study, I was able to take on the role of Australian Youth Ambassador for Development, an Australian Government initiative for volunteers aged 18-30 to apply their knowledge and skills in a developing country. My country was Bangladesh and I was lucky enough to be placed at the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh (ICDDR,B), a world renowned health research institute. I am still residing in Bangladesh, having continued working here after my placement, but there is no way that I would have been able to take this amazing opportunity without the option of distance study.
I was pleased to find that my tutors were people who completely understood my unique needs as a distance student. A simple email to my tutors to explain my situation was always met with an understanding and supportive response. Its not often you can write to a tutor saying, Im sorry I cant do such and such right now because I wont be able to leave the house due to a nationwide blockade and the risk of getting hit but a brick sailing through the air and get a, yeah I completely understand, no problems response.
I also found that because I was able to work in the field I was more motivated to study since I was actually able to apply my learning on a day to day basis. Being someone who tends to forget things that I dont feel are immediately relevant this was ideal.
I now recommend distance education to all my friends who want to advance their academic qualifications without putting their life and careers on hold. And it is funny to hear my friend, now studying the same degree as me say, you arent going to believe the people Im studying with, this one guy is saving orphans in Afghanistan, I feel like such an idiot!
