Ngāi Tahu, Kāti Māmoe, Waitaha
Studying for a Bachelor of Arts
Distance learning is enabling Hannah Kerr to work towards completing a degree she first started in 2014.
“I have been studying on and off since then. I had a brief stint in London and then my path changed again and I got a job with the Southern District Health Board.”
By 2018 Hannah was ready to resume her studies and researched various distance learning programmes before finding the perfect paper at Otago.
“I enrolled in a history paper at Summer School via distance. As I was still working full-time, the opportunity to complete the paper via distance meant I could balance my work life without stressing about missing classes.”
Hannah says choosing to study via distance was one of the best decisions she's ever made.
“Resources were readily available and there was a tutorial stream set up at 6pm for those who couldn't attend during the day. There was also the opportunity to Skype into the tutorial and we had multiple students doing this.
“Even though I wasn't attending the lectures in person, I didn't feel isolated. The interactions between the lecturer and other students were actually stronger and more resourceful than any other class I have previously been in.
“Because I had such an incredible experience with Otago's Distance Learning programme I decided to enrol for the rest of the year with the hope of studying part-time and completing my degree at the end of 2020.”