Learners Like No Other is a new series where real students and alumni share how online learning at AU is like no other university experience. Submit your story.
Enxhi Kondi
Bachelor of Nursing graduate
📍Toronto, Ont.
Why was online learning at Athabasca University the right fit for you?
While taking my first course with Athabasca University, I gave birth to my first child. During my last course at AU, I gave birth to my second child. In between, online learning was the only way I could feasibly be a full-time mother, full-time nurse, part-time teacher, part-time writer, and be able to advance in my personal and professional goals. Online learning allowed me to customize my education around other major components of my life and adapt as my priorities shifted and changed.
How has studying at AU helped you achieve your goals (personal, professional, academic)?
Funnily enough, the courses I was taking at AU seemed to align oddly well with my professional experiences at the time. I began my master’s during the COVID-19 pandemic, while writing nursing advocacy pieces for the Toronto Star and taking introductory courses exploring the ethos of nursing practice, holistic perspectives of health, and the contributions of nursing knowledge
I progressed through the teaching-focused courses as I began teaching in nursing school, creating a bidirectional flow of knowledge and growth. Course concepts informed my teaching approach, while my teaching experiences supplied content for my assignments.
Finally, I finished with a dual focus in leadership while working in hospital professional practice, expanding my lens from direct nursing practice to health-care organizations, human resources, and strategic thinking. This knowledge was co-constructed alongside my leadership role.
Aligning evidence-informed theoretical learning with my practice, whether as a nurse, teacher, or leader, was really the secret to my success in each of those roles.
How do you balance your studies with other responsibilities like work or family?:
The answer to work-life balance for me is a bit of a cliché, but it is true: disciplined time management. But time management does not only mean breaking up the day according to a series of tasks. The discipline comes in when I establish priorities, sort through the need-to-have and the-nice-to-haves, and recognize that trade-offs are an inevitable part of life.
There is a great deal of compromise that I realized when I had children, worked full time, and was still driven toward goals and aspirations. I was privileged to have a robust village to lean on, but moments of compromise were not infrequent.
As the great Oprah Winfrey once said, "You can have it all. Just not all at once."
How is your AU education different than what you've experienced previously? (a.k.a. How is AU like no other?):
Learning at AU felt like a collaborative community of learners engaging in knowledge co-construction through shared experiences, insightful discussions, and instructors who often challenged our perspectives toward expansion and growth.