2008 Ecampus Graduates

Karen Horner - Improving Her Options

B.S. General Agriculture
Prunedale, CA

Karen Horner

What does completing your degree mean to you? How do you feel it will improve your life and career?
Upon completing my degree, I have fulfilled a lifetime dream and a decade-long struggle. No longer will I have to answer the question, “Have you finished your degree, and why not?”

For me, it is a way to improve my career options and growth. It is also more of a personal accomplishment. It is a goal that I completed and can proudly show my children. Despite challenges with financing college or living hours away from my school, I was able to complete this degree. It is my proudest achievement. It has given me the confidence to explore and try other options in life. I hope to soon begin the path in completing my master's degree.

Why did you choose to complete your degree online through OSU Extended Campus? What did you like about this method of education?
After starting my college career over a decade ago, I have attended and been accepted to several different colleges. Due to financial, job and family commitments, it was hard to complete my degree in a timely fashion and find a program that would accommodate all aspects of my life. Moving four hours away from my last college and with small children at home, I was afraid my goal of being the first in my family to graduate from college would vanish. Through my searches on the Web, I stumbled upon the OSU Ecampus website and was highly impressed with the site, the course offerings and the ability to complete my degree online.

What was even more impressive was the personal touch I received in each email or phone call I had with all the staff at OSU. Attending OSU Ecampus allowed me to stay home with my children and still attend college. I was able to log onto classes, communicate and complete assignments as my children slept. Not only was each course accessible and convenient, but the content of each course was academically challenging and structured. Finishing my degree through Ecampus proved to be the best educational choice I have made. I was able to complete my degree while staying home with my family all while being nowhere near a major university. The best part was my education was academically superior then many other choices out there.

Did you have an instructor or advisor who was influential in helping you succeed as a distance student?

I have found that one fear of being a distance student is that you will be forgotten or just a number. OSU Ecampus crushed that fear.

Every instructor was accessible, committed, and passionate about their course and helping their students succeed. Each class I took online I found an advisor who was highly qualified, but also adapting to an online student’s needs. I was enrolled in several agriculture-based courses and was extremely impressed how challenging each course was and how interactive each instructor was. In dealing with transcripts, credits, and graduation applications, I was impressed how involved my advisor was in assuring my success. Brett Jeter became my advisor just as I was finishing my time at OSU, but was quick to familiarize himself with my tangled web of transcripts. He was always friendly, helpful and handled any issues that came up with my graduation application. I never felt like a number, but felt like each person at OSU Ecampus knew me personally.

Back to Graduation 2008.

Learn more about our online B.S. in General Agriculture.

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