Nursing grad stands out for teaching and leadership

I chose AU as it provided flexibility in my learning that was incredibly important. I have worked full-time throughout the entirety of my degree, so flexibility in terms of having online learning, no fixed class times, and choices when it came to course loads was paramount to my success. Adding to this, I am a self-directed learner, so the idea of having online courses that I was responsible for staying on top of was appealing.

Lastly, I have spoken with many hospital colleagues who have earned their master’s in nursing, and the impression I was given was that the learning at AU was of high quality and applicable to nursing practice. This was, in my opinion, proven true throughout my learning journey.

It was not my original intention. I originally planned to go with a teaching route. This is the focus that was first reflected on my program status. As I went through the degree, however, I realized that teaching and leadership overlap in many ways.

High-quality teachers must also have leadership skills, and high-quality leaders must understand how to effectively engage with and educate those they are leading. So I took all the leadership options on my own, and it was very convenient to me when Dr. [Gwen] Rempel posted in our class forum about the option of adding a second focus to our formal degree.

The biggest challenge that I faced was time management. It is difficult to balance the time required to manage school, work, and life. This was the largest obstacle for me.

This degree will open doors so I can continue to move into advanced roles within nursing and health care. I am looking at roles that will move me in one of those directions. Both very interesting to me, so I will assess options that come up and find one that will hopefully be a good fit for my nursing practice and career.

My wife has been cheering me on the entire time, and supporting me to figure out how to balance my life to get this done. I can’t imagine having undertaken this on my own without her in my corner.

My favourite memory was the beginning of my final course. When I logged on to the forum, and began posting alongside my classmates, everyone had the same sense of excitement and anticipation. This was the final class. We all made it this far and we were going to succeed. And not only that, but we were in it together. Everyone in NURS611 was completing their final course, and everyone was excited to see and be around other students that had come so far along the same journey.

My journey led me to AU, but it’s not over. My future is bright and exciting. As I begin to look for ways to advance my career, I will see the knowledge that I have gained be put into my practice. I am thrilled to know that my future holds more opportunity because of this degree, and I cannot wait to see where I go from here.