Arthur Freydin

Meet Arthur Freydin

Name: Arthur Freydin

Age: 25

Hobbies: Photography, mountain biking

Place of Birth: Russia

Current Location: New Jersey

School: Ellis College of New York Institute of Technology

Target: B.S. in Business Administration/Marketing, 2009

About a year ago, Arthur F., 25, met a woman who changed his life—really.

She had been enrolled in the accounting program at Ellis College, and as the two spent more time together she became comfortable logging into class right in front of him.

Eventually, her experience at Ellis convinced him that completing his B.A. online was the right choice.

"I had never considered an online program," says Arthur, "but I saw how easy it was to use the interface, how she could manage her time, and how simple the start up process was."

Having earned an Associate’s Degree in Visual Communications from Gibbs College, Arthur was later surprised to find himself on an altogether different career path from his original plan of graphic and web design.

He’d been involved in graphic design since the age of 14, so at first it seemed natural that he would want to pursue employment in that field.

"Graphic design is something I love to do very much in my own free time," Arthur says, "but then I went to college and found out a little bit more about myself." He realized that as much as he liked the artistic work as a hobby, it probably wasn’t his career of choice.

For him, the reality of graphic design work in the corporate world offered little creative freedom. He was bored and restless. The work he was being paid to do was very different from the work he did for his own pleasure and for occasional freelance work.

"For me it was the same as having a passion for photography—and then getting paid to do wedding photography."

Despite these feelings, Arthur wasn’t yet ready to give up, so he took a temporary design position at a company called Home Décor, and that’s where his future took an unexpected turn.

"Within about a week they spotted potential in me to be a good marketing manager," he recalls. He was given that position and made a full time employee. Arthur doesn’t know whether to chalk it up to luck or fate, but he was thrilled to have found a career that satisfied him completely.

Though he might have been a natural in the field in marketing, he knew that his formal education could make him look inexperienced to potential employers.

For this reason, Arthur started considering going back to school but had only vague ideas about how that might fit into his full-time work schedule before he was introduced to Ellis College and the concept of doing it all online.

After doing some research, Arthur found that Ellis offered a solid B.A. program in marketing.

"It was very important to me that the online college was accredited and had a great name to back up its reputation," Arthur says.

He admits that he used to have some prejudices about what online schools were like.

"Most people associate online learning with certain schools with tarnished names and use over-the-top marketing practices... In truth, most online schools are extremely beneficial in terms of time management and professionalism."

Arthur takes one class per six-week semester. There are approximately fifteen students in each class.

One of the biggest surprises to him was the quality of input from his fellow eLearners.

"Most of my classmates in almost every class are experienced individuals with great insights and ideas within their field."

Ellis provides its students with many different types of media, including video, audio, text, chat rooms, and team discussions.

As for the latter, Arthur enjoys being able to work as part of a smaller group even though his teammates might span three different time zones.

And although he and his classmates are invited to call their professors if they feel they need to speak to them directly, he says that he’s never had to get on a phone.

According to Arthur, the biggest drawback to the eLearning experience is the lack of spontaneous discussion.

"I’m the type of person who’s the first to raise his hand with a question or comment, and that’s how I am in a company meeting." Arthur says.

"It’s less personal when there’s no way to randomly ask a question in the middle of a lecture."

He says that he’s the type of learner who understands better when he can rehash something in his own words.

But learning such things about himself has been all been part of the process. With a full-time job and a fifty-minute commute to boot, Arthur’s realized that when pressed, he can easily adjust to tight time schedules.

"I’ve gotten really involved in my career," he says, "and marketing is one of those fields where you really have to track what’s going on in the world, you can’t just tune out."

And lest he forget who helped him find Ellis in the first place, Arthur also manages to squeeze in time with his lady.