An Unconventional Learning Journey – Michael deBoer

My learning journey has been more like a ride than a walk. There have been a few highs, some lows, and more than one unexpected turn. I took a pretty convoluted route to obtain my degree. I never expected to be a ‘non-traditional’ student, but then again, I don’t know if I could have done it any other way.

I started my post-secondary education a year after I had graduated high school, but lost interest after two semesters. I had worked overseas for a few months, and the travel bug had bitten me. I had also been working in a financial institution for a year and the work was flexible and paid well, which allowed me to travel. Every time I returned home from a few months away, I had a new role, interesting work, and increasing responsibility and pay.
So, school sort of fell by the wayside…for years. In those intervening years, I had moved cities, taken on increasing responsibility at work and gotten married. The urge to travel lessened and the desire to grow increased. So, I returned to school. By this time, I was already considered a ‘mature student’ (I’ve never like that phrase – like at some age you are supposed to be done learning and ‘should’ be doing…what?) and I made an attempt to return to a brick-and-mortar school and succeeded for a time, but the class schedule was difficult while working nearly full time, and I’ll admit, it was difficult being in a cohort of students who were much younger than I was. I made it through two semesters and, once again, lost the motivation to keep going.

By this time, more years had passed; I had a family and was working in a leadership position at a different organization. It had always bothered me that I had not finished my degree, but it wasn’t something that seemed realistic at this point in time. I was also starting to feel really unsettled in my work. I wanted to make a career shift, and had been thinking about a Master’s Degree in Counselling Psychology for some time. One problem – I had to have completed my undergraduate degree in order to be considered for the program.

It was at this time I began to seriously look into online learning. I had done one course through TRU in those earlier years (it was a business course I thought might help my leadership – it did) so I knew a little bit about distance education. As I looked more closely at the many available courses online, I also discovered the Prior Learning Assessment and Recognition process. I wasn’t sure if anything could be made of my work experience thus far, but I felt that I had to try. I applied to the program and was told that I was a strong candidate, but that there was a significant waiting list (can you guess the year it was? Yup, 2020, everybody was returning to school!). I wanted to keep moving while I had the motivation, so I paid the application fee and kept my name on the list and took another online course while I waited. It took a few months and a spot opened up.

The PLAR process was a challenge – it’s a lot of work to reflect on everything you’ve done in your life and what you’ve learned from it. Thankfully, through the help of my PLAR advisor, and by sticking with it for three months, I was able to create all the pieces of my portfolio. I delivered it with some trepidation, unsure what to expect. After several weeks I was notified of my interview, and after that step, eagerly awaited my credit notification. In those intervening weeks I thought a lot about my work and life experience, and what that has meant for my learning and growing as a person. Regardless of the credit granted, I was grateful for the opportunity to reflect on all that I had been able to do and accomplish in my life, it was a rewarding experience. When the letter came from TRU, I actually waited a day to open it. I wasn’t sure how I’d feel; I had put a lot of effort into my portfolio and was proud of what I had done, but I wasn’t sure if the reviewers would see it the same way. Turns out, I was granted the full amount of allowable credits, and in addition, I was granted further credit for having earned my mutual funds accreditation as part of my career. I was ecstatic! I knew I had worked hard on my portfolio, and I have been fortunate enough to have varied and wide-ranging work and learning experiences, along with volunteer work, hobbies and informal education I’ve done, but some doubt had persisted – I was so encouraged and so grateful. This was such a significant boost to my goals – now I only had 7 courses left to complete, in order to complete my undergraduate degree.

It was now time to enroll in Open Learning courses and finish off this degree, the credit granted through PLAR had lit a fire under me, and I wanted to complete the remaining credits within a year. I had chosen to pursue a Bachelor of General Studies Degree on the advice of the academic advisors, because that would give me the greatest chance of maximizing my applied studies credits earned through PLAR. Now, I had several Psychology pre-requisites that had to be done, and then the rest could be elective courses. I found the process of enrolling in open learning courses really easy. Because I like making spreadsheets, I combed through the online course list and started to list all the courses that interested me, as well as relevant info about the course. This way, I could compare and contrast the cost, credits, readings, etc. and decide which would work best for me. I took several of the 3991 courses available, all of which were challenging and interesting. The rest were the PSYCH pre-requisites and a few English courses that I really enjoyed.

The ability to complete the courses on my own timetable made it easy for me to schedule my school into my work weeks, and still allowed for family time. The fact that I could complete the courses at my own pace meant that I could work ahead where I was able, and take the time where I needed. The fact that student funding was available and the courses were affordable and were paid for as you enrolled made it possible financially for me to do this. The benefits of TRU’s Open Learning courses are significant, and I was able to take advantage of all of them.

Both the PLAR and Open Learning experiences were hugely beneficial to me. While balancing work, family, and other responsibilities, I could not have completed my education any other way. I’m so grateful for Thompson Rivers University for providing accessible education, challenging and enjoyable courses, and the opportunity to translate my life experiences into learning and credit toward my degree!

For anyone considering the PLAR process, I’d say: go for it! Take the time to thoughtfully create your portfolio. Part of the credit granted for my portfolio was simply the organization and cohesiveness of the project – so do it to the best of your abilities, the reviewers will notice that. For anyone considering taking courses through Open Learning, I’d also say: go for it! Just start, even if it is one course, the flexibility to complete many of the courses at your own pace is really helpful. Some courses I finished in six weeks, some took me three months, but each one was a step in the direction I wanted to go.

When I was facing the daunting task of finishing my undergrad degree before I could get into the master’s program I wanted, I was discouraged. A good friend asked me where I wanted to be in five years, and suggested that I could either be stuck in the same place, wishing I could be further along, or I could simply start on something, anything. The five years are going to pass regardless, so at least take a few steps in the right direction. That proved to be valuable advice.

I’m proud of what I have accomplished through the PLAR process and Open Learning and I’m so grateful for TRU and all the opportunities they provided me. The flexibility, encouragement, direction and support TRU offers is incredible. Again, I’ll say: go for it! Start today, start on something, anything. It’ll be a step in the right direction.