{"id":114,"date":"2016-04-27T06:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-04-27T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/?p=114"},"modified":"2024-04-02T15:19:35","modified_gmt":"2024-04-02T22:19:35","slug":"christine-mosser","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/christine-mosser\/","title":{"rendered":"A shared spotlight, but her time to shine"},"content":{"rendered":"

Even with a show-stealing dog, Mosser finds her a groove as a double major<\/h2>\n
\n
\"Ecampus<\/div>\n

Christine Mosser balances her life as a double major in business administration and Spanish while shuttling her dog, Chesty, to events as the Marine Corps mascot. (Photos by Staff Sgt. Mike Coleman | United States Marine Corps)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

By Tyler Hansen
\nApril 27, 2016<\/em><\/p>\n

This story is supposed to be about Christine Mosser, and rightfully so. After two decades away from college, she\u2019s barreling full steam ahead as a double major in business administration and Spanish, learning online with Oregon State Ecampus while living 2,400 miles away in Washington, D.C.<\/p>\n

She has lived all over the country, worked a variety of interesting jobs, raised two kids, and she volunteers extensively in her community.<\/p>\n

But as intriguing as Christine\u2019s life is, she is repeatedly nudged aside \u2013 but only temporarily\u00a0\u2013 so people can ask about \u2026 her dog, Chesty.<\/p>\n

Chesty, a 3-year-old English bulldog, is a big deal. His name is officially Chesty XIV, and he\u00a0holds the rank of corporal as the<\/em> mascot for the United States Marine Corps.<\/p>\n

When she\u2019s not studying, Christine \u2013 whose husband is a staff sergeant in the Marine Corps \u2013 acts as part public relations person, part proud mom while coordinating Chesty’s schedule for official military events. He wins over crowds everywhere while marching in parades, greeting dignitaries and performing other duties.<\/p>\n

\n
\"Christine<\/div>\n

Chesty’s ability to garner attention helped his owner, Christine Mosser, win an Ecampus social media contest and a black OSU Beavers sweatshirt.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s taken seriously but not too seriously,\u201d Christine said with a laugh the day before an event earlier this spring. \u201cHe\u2019s been in the Marines for three years, and he hasn\u2019t done anything truly embarrassing. He loves everybody and everybody loves him.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs long as he doesn\u2019t do anything bad before tomorrow, he\u2019ll receive a good conduct award. It\u2019s a cookie. He\u2019s earned it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Chesty was front and center in March when Christine was randomly selected as the winner of a social media contest that asked OSU Ecampus students to share photos of their favorite places to study<\/a> during winter finals week.<\/p>\n

But not even a lap-hogging bulldog can truly steal the spotlight from Christine as she makes early progress toward a pair of bachelor\u2019s degrees.<\/p>\n

She enrolled in Oregon State\u2019s online program in business administration<\/a> because much of her career experience is in business. And she opted to also major in Spanish with Ecampus<\/a> because of how valuable Spanish-language proficiency is in today\u2019s business world.<\/p>\n

If one thing is certain, it\u2019s that Christine knows what her strengths are and that she trusts herself to make wise decisions.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have 25 years of real-world work experience, so I have a good feel for what knowledge will be useful when you\u2019re out there,\u201d she says. \u201cIn the three classes I\u2019m taking right now \u2013 one for each major and one for my minor in leadership<\/a> \u2013 the information is real-world applicable immediately.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd that\u2019s important to me. It validates that I made the right choice with OSU Ecampus after doing research on about 50 schools.\u201d<\/p>\n

Further validation has come as a result of highly interactive course activities and effective group exercises. In her Business Now class, Christine is on a four-person team whose members are located in D.C., Pennsylvania, Seattle and Corvallis and range in age from 19 to 42.<\/p>\n

“<\/span>In the three classes I\u2019m taking right now … the information is real-world applicable immediately. And that\u2019s important to me. It validates that I made the right choice with OSU Ecampus… .”<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The diverse nature of Oregon State\u2019s online learning environment is representative of what Christine has seen in the workforce.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo much of what you do is team-based, and you\u2019re not always going to work alongside people of like age and experience,\u201d she says. \u201cYou learn on the fly, maybe falter a bit, and in the end we help each other succeed. There\u2019s a real sense of community.\u201d<\/p>\n

A lot has changed in the 20-plus years since Christine was last enrolled as a college student \u2013 and not just technologically. She\u2019s had ample time to venture down a different path to figure out who she is and what she brings to the table. The two-decade detour served her well.<\/p>\n

Now that she\u2019s back in the classroom, she\u2019s eagerly marching toward graduation \u2013 with Chesty leading the parade, of course.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think I\u2019m better off for waiting to finish my degree because I know what\u2019s in front of me and I can take advantage of the opportunities,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019ll have the same skills I had before, but I will have honed them and added new skills.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think that once I graduate, the world will be wide open to me.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

<\/span> 4<\/span> minute read<\/span><\/span>Christine Mosser took a 20-year break from school. Now she’s back, double majoring in business administration and Spanish online with Ecampus, on the other side of the country. And she does it all while caring for the U.S. Marine Corps mascot. Discover why Christine feels her educational hiatus has prepared her to thrive all these years later.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":128,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[673],"tags":[129,169,25,24,350],"class_list":["post-114","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives","tag-business-administration","tag-online-degrees","tag-online-education","tag-online-learning","tag-portland"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/Christine-Mosser.jpg?fit=5472%2C3648&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7BNSE-1Q","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1099,"url":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/online-student-instructor-interaction\/","url_meta":{"origin":114,"position":0},"title":"Despite distance, online learners build lasting connections","author":"Julie Cooper","date":"January 17, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Oregon State University\u2019s online learners do what many say can\u2019t be done: form genuine connections in the digital classroom. 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I thought I knew all of the answers, but the course work definitely\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Archives"","block_context":{"text":"Archives","link":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/category\/archives\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Todd Van Hess pushes his daughter on a swing that hangs from a tree in their yard.","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/Todd-Main.jpg?fit=638%2C410&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/Todd-Main.jpg?fit=638%2C410&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/Todd-Main.jpg?fit=638%2C410&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1495,"url":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/business-administration-josh-griffie\/","url_meta":{"origin":114,"position":3},"title":"Business administration online student \u2018always dreaming\u2019 of his next move","author":"Tyler Hansen","date":"August 7, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"This is a story about Josh Griffie, whose life plans have been disrupted so frequently that he can only laugh when asked where he finds the strength to keep going. 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