Guide to Online Education > Online Education In-Depth > Meet Real Online Students > Angel, B.A. in Criminal Justice
Name: Angel Morgan
Age: 27
Marital Status: Married
Kids: 5 years, 3 years, and 8 months old
Future Goal: Attend law school
School: Ohio Dominican University
Target: B.A. in Criminal Justice, December 2006
"I'd give myself ultimatums," she remembers. "I have to stay up to do this now or I'll miss the soccer game on Saturday," she told herself.
Strict privacy requirements at her job prevented her from taking work home. But she did take school to work.
"It wasn't rare for me to be sitting at a lunch table reading Camus or writing a paper," she says with a smile.
Though there were some drawbacks to attending school online, the flexibility made it worthwhile. And surprisingly, she found that the rapport she developed with the students and faculty was satisfying.
"There are professors that I had the pleasure of working with for a number of courses, but have never met. The relationship we have forged is purely in cyber cafes and discussion boards," she reports.
"You learn to listen to people through their written words, which is incredibly interesting to me. You actually develop a relationship that does not require face-to-face interaction."
At Ohio Dominican, a semester consists of two terms. Sometimes she would take two classes one term and one class the next term to maintain her full-time status. Before long she grew to appreciate the online experience and recognize an unexpected benefit of discussion boards.
"With not having to face your audience, I think that it is easier to speak freely and to not be intimidated by the opinions opposite of your own," notes Angel.
"This format of meeting made me a great critical thinker, as it allowed me to contemplate the words in front of me. It was lasting; the words don't disappear with the next set of thoughts. They remain for reflection."
As for group meetings, they were "few and far between."
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