by Travis Johnson
MSCSA Vice President & Lake Superior College Online Student

A lot of people ask me why I choose to take all of my courses using the Internet. I could provide them with a variety of reasons, such as the fact that I learn better in quiet settings or that taking online classes enhances my love for innovative technology. I could also say that online education is proving to be as successful in quality as traditional learning and that networking with other students is brought to a whole new level through instant messaging, online group spaces, and a plethora of other means. I don’t usually bring up all of those points, though, because that’s a lot of explaining, and the list can be expanded even more. Instead, I sum it all up by saying I take online courses mainly because of one benefit – flexibility.  

When I first started attending college, I found it very difficult to balance the workload of being a full time student with both my full-time and part-time jobs. Because of the extra time I needed to clear in my day for classes, I was forced to have special arrangements made at my full-time job, which was 30 miles away from my apartment and the college I was attending, so I could leave work in the middle of my shift to go to school and then return to work and finish my shift into the night.
You can imagine with the time I needed for travel everyday and the late work hours, coupled with my part-time job on the weekends, I wasn’t saving much room in my schedule for homework or sleep. The bottom line is– sleeping on books wasn’t very comfortable and my homework wasn’t being given the attention necessary to be a successful student.

After my first semester, which didn’t look so hot on my transcript, I decided to take a mixture of courses. For my second semester, I enrolled in three types of courses: on-ground only, hybrid, and online only. As it turns out, I enjoyed the hybrid and online-only courses far more than the on-ground courses and had a much more successful semester because of it. I was able to use the free time in my schedule to get homework done and “attend” class as necessary. My performance at my jobs benefited from this change as well, as I was more alert and was sleeping better. In subsequent semesters, I gradually drew away from on-ground courses and transformed myself into a completely online student.

Being an online student in the MnSCU system is special because the system has a heavy focus on offering a wide variety of courses online. I can take virtually any course online that I would be able to on-ground, except I can do so with flexibility. The flexibility exists not only because I can “attend” my online courses any time of day, but also because programs are now being offered in alternative scheduling methods, such as being able to take two courses for eight weeks at a time and completing a two-year degree at the same pace as a traditional student. With such options readily available to me, I can lead a life that is similar to when I first started attending college. I still work plenty of hours each week at my part time job and I also have a greater ability to be more effective at maintaining my role as a leader in student advocacy for Minnesota’s two-year college students in MSCSA.