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Online Learner Profiles: Christian B.

Profiles of Real Online Learners

Guide to Online Education > Online Education In-Depth > Meet Real Online Students > Christian B., Master of Business Administration

In fact, he says, it was sometimes pretty tempting just to accept partial credit rather than stay on top of daily schoolwork.

What did he find to be the biggest distraction? "Well, you know, anything a young male does not conforming to school... I'm not quite an old man yet..." As a single guy in his late 20s balancing work and school, Christian understood the meaning of peer pressure for the first time in his life.

"My friends were definitely the biggest distraction," he laughs, recounting their annoyance at his having to take time away from going to clubs and parties in order to finish assignments. Sometimes the guys would even visit the frat house from their undergraduate days, even though Christian was the one who was still a student.

Then again, he enjoyed the freedom of being able to log in and do coursework from anywhere in the world where a wireless connection was available.

While traditional students were sitting in class, he was working on a laptop in sunny Florida. Though he keeps an office at home, he says that Walden had "a plethora of online sources," so much of his material was portable—because it was virtual.

After so many years of working a 9-5 job and having a full course load, Christian describes his recent graduation from Walden University as "kind of a shock."

With all the free time he suddenly has on his hands, what is he doing? Planning for the next step. "I'll probably go for a Ph D next," he says, though he's undecided as to whether it will be online or traditional.

As his instructors at Walden exemplified, a successful professional career backed with a good degree can segue into more leisurely academic jobs in which one would be able to teach a class or two from semi-retirement. "But I'll take a few months off to relax and enjoy the post-MBA period first."

Even so, Christian admits, it's been a long time since he's planned a weekend without having to factor in the time to write a paper.

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