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Can you really study teaching online and still get the full uni experience? Shannon, a Bachelor of Education student, proves that you can! Having spent two years studying on-campus in Perth before returning home to the regional city of Geraldton, she now balances work, study and enjoying time with friends and family while completing her degree online.
The decision to leave Perth wasn’t easy. Shannon struggled with the feeling that returning to her hometown equalled failure but, after making the jump, it was clear how excited her tight-knit community was to have her back.
“When I came back, I realised how great it was to be in Geraldton. I had job opportunities, family support and friends’ support. It just worked perfectly.”
And this is the biggest benefit to studying regionally; because Perth is so big, it can be a lot harder to find stable jobs and placement opportunities in the city.
“Having connections in the community was so helpful. All the teachers that I worked with always said, ‘Let me know if you need a hand, we are more than happy to proofread something or just give you some ideas.’ I might not have gotten that if I was living in Perth.”
Having already started working as an education assistant while studying, Shannon was able to try out placements both at her home school and at others in the region.
“I loved going on my placements. You’re taking all your knowledge and doing the practical application in different schools and really seeing how they operate. And it’s nice to give back to my own community and be able to support students who really need it.”
Although balancing work with study and placements can be tricky, Shannon found a good rhythm fitting study in after school or on the weekends, using a good at-home set up with her laptop and some monitors.
“I didn’t have set days where I’d go and study. I just had my objectives of what I needed to do, in order of importance, and then I would tackle everything as quickly and best I could.”
And despite struggling at first with the workload and lack of face-to-face class time, Shannon’s transition from studying on campus to online turned out to be smooth. Between online discussion boards, live Collaborate sessions, Facebook groups and organising calls with unit coordinators, she found there’s a lot of different supports in place.
“It’s not just you on your own. There’s always the opportunity for you to go and visit Curtin to attend sessions in person. I kept all the friendships that I made in Perth, so I still had people in my units who I could ask for help. And on top of that, my results were better when I started studying online!”
With her final placement complete and a full-time teaching job already lined up, Shannon’s journey shows that studying online from Geraldton is not only possible but totally worth it!
If you’re a regional student facing a similar decision, Shannon has three pieces of advice for you:
1) Follow your heart.
“You have to do what’s right for you. Depending on the person you are, it can still be a really fun journey doing uni online.
2) Be self-motivated.
“You’ve got to be motivated enough to push through even when there’s challenges. By having a community that supports you, it makes it a lot easier.
3) Don’t let study take over your whole life.
“Make sure you’re prioritising the rest of your life. I’m grateful for the time and the effort that I put in but, looking back, I wish that I’d spent more time with family and friends instead of going, “Oh, I need to study.”
