Teaching and Learning for Student Success
Patuk Glenn's path leads back to rural Alaska through the Rural Development Program
For many students, finding their passion is an integral part of the college experience. Patuk Glenn's natural curiosity and enthusiasm led her to enroll in a range of classes, exploring one intriguing path after another -- until she got hooked by an introductory course in rural development.
"The class was all about planning for balanced development, and how globalization can affect rural areas," she says. "I just loved it, so I had to keep pursuing all the RD classes."
Flexible programming has allowed Glenn to stay on track. In addition to attending classes in person on the Fairbanks campus, she's used distance education technology from the Bethel campus, where she lived for two semesters, and from her Fairbanks home while she cares for her three-year-old daughter.
The Rural Development Program's many options attracted Glenn, who plans to graduate with a bachelor of arts degree in May 2008. "I knew I wanted to use my degree to work in rural Alaska. RD has different emphases I'm interested in, like business, economic development, and health and human services."
She took an in-depth look at many of those issues during seminars in Juneau and Washington, D.C.
"We learned how government really works. You ask questions that directly affect your home communities, which is really powerful, and you learn so much just from listening to your classmates' questions."
"The class was all about planning for balanced development, and how globalization can affect rural areas," she says. "I just loved it, so I had to keep pursuing all the RD classes."
Flexible programming has allowed Glenn to stay on track. In addition to attending classes in person on the Fairbanks campus, she's used distance education technology from the Bethel campus, where she lived for two semesters, and from her Fairbanks home while she cares for her three-year-old daughter.
The Rural Development Program's many options attracted Glenn, who plans to graduate with a bachelor of arts degree in May 2008. "I knew I wanted to use my degree to work in rural Alaska. RD has different emphases I'm interested in, like business, economic development, and health and human services."
She took an in-depth look at many of those issues during seminars in Juneau and Washington, D.C.
"We learned how government really works. You ask questions that directly affect your home communities, which is really powerful, and you learn so much just from listening to your classmates' questions."