Closing gaps, not pressing pause: Luke Kitching’s learning journey

While working full-time, Luke returned to school through TRU Open Learning’s Bachelor of Technology, Trades and Technology Leadership program. Balancing a busy family life, career, and personal interests, Luke found it challenging, but rewarding, to fit study time into his days. The online, self-paced courses in Open Learning made it possible. “The key to my success was making school accessible,” Luke shares. “TRU’s online learning afforded me the flexibility I needed to be taking classes with an already full workload.”

Furthering his education has deepened Luke’s theoretical understanding of different subjects. But what mattered most was how it applied to real life. “It’s one thing to learn how, and another to test-drive your learnings,” he says. Being able to immediately bring new ideas into his work made learning feel practical, relevant, and worth the effort.

Luke’s perspective on education changed too. “I used to consider education as a ticket-to-ride,” he reflects. “Now, I see it as an opportunity and accessory to the ride.” Instead of something separate from life, learning became a way to fill the gaps that experience alone couldn’t cover.

Through TRU Open Learning, Luke proved that keeping life moving doesn’t mean standing still in your learning journey.