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Online Learner Profiles: Molly A.

Profiles of Real Online Learners

Guide to Online Education > Online Education In-Depth > Meet Real Online Students > Molly A., Master's in Extension Education

As a student pursuing her Bachelor’s degree at University of North Carolina at Greensboro, Molly Alexi remembers a student in her class who had two young children and traveled over two hours just to get to class.

"I now understand how hard that was," says Molly, an Oakboro, North Carolina resident with two children of her own who is working on her Master’s degree.

She’s glad she made the switch from on-site classes at North Carolina State University to taking them online. "If I hadn’t switched to online, it would have been much more stressful on my family, job and myself," she says."

Online learning is nothing new to this 35-year-old student, who has seen the distance learning platform evolve with technology advancements. "I started taking online classes four years ago, and they have really developed at NCSU," she says.

"One of my first online classes I took was just reading and completing assignments, but recently, I have been taking interactive classes using webCT and Eluminate. Some of the professors even use webcams."

At 35, Molly is like most working adults who are trying to balance continued education while making time to enjoy her family life.

She currently works for the North Carolina Cooperative Extension in Stanly County as a Family and Consumer Services Extension Agent, and plans to complete her Master’s degree this fall.

She is planning to apply for a title promotion upon graduation, and expects to receive an immediate 5-percent pay increase if she gets the job. "I don’t have any plans of changing careers," Molly adds.

With one more semester to go, we caught up with Molly as back-to-school time looms for her and her kids.

When and why did you start to consider going back to school?

I decided to go back to school when I became employed with Cooperative Extension. Extension is a very big supporter of lifetime learning, and they encourage all of their employees to earn higher degrees and take classes of interest and professional relevance that will ultimately help to strengthen their county programs.

These programs focus upon enhancing agricultural, forest and food systems; strengthening and sustaining families; developing responsible youth, building quality communities, and conserving and improving the environment and natural resources.

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