2009 Ecampus Graduates

Jana Mort - For my family

B.S. General Agriculture
Burns, OR

Jana Mort

Among her titles as rancher, wife and home school mom, Jana Mort can now add college graduate to her list of achievements.

Like many students, Jana started college right out of high school, 14 years ago. After an injury, she had to put her college career on hold.

"I previously pursued a degree in Animal Science," Jana said. "I never thought that I would be able to finish because I'm from Colorado and Animal Science courses are usually hands-on. I was web surfing and found a General Agriculture degree online from OSU that would take all of my previous hours and allow me to finally graduate with my degree. I liked the fact that I could still home school my children, help my husband's ranching and finish my degree all at the same time."

While working on her degree online while living in Burns, Ore., Jana enjoyed the personal help she received from OSU's faculty.

"I was very fond of Greg Thompson because he was very helpful to me. He knew of my busy life as a rancher and a home school mom," she said. "He worked with me to fit in a 12-hour internship and a reading and conference class to finish my degree."

Jana is also proud to show her children the importance of higher education.
"My degree will improve my life by building my self esteem and allowing my family to see how important an education is," Jana said. "It will prove that it's never too late to finish what you have started."

Not only is she able to provide an example to her children that you don't have to give up on your goals, Jana now is able to support her family after her husband was laid off.

"My husband lost his nine-year position as a ranch manager due to the economy and I am now able to take over in his place due to my educational status as an Ecampus graduate," Jana said. "My degree will open doors for me in natural resources management and agriculture as I will start a career as a Range Management Specialist for the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Being able to graduate through the Ecampus program has saved our family from unemployment."

Jana was also featured in the June 13 story in the Corvallis Gazette-Times about Ecampus online graduates.

Back to 2009 Ecampus Graduate Profiles.

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

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