Earning an undergraduate degree from the University of Iowa wasn’t originally something Kendra Becker (BLS 2018) had planned to do. As a first generation college student, her main goal was to complete her associate degree. Though Becker lived in Illinois, a family friend knew she was looking for colleges and suggested she look for one in Iowa. She did and decided on North Iowa Area Community College (NIACC) in Mason City.
As a wife, mother, business owner and substitute teacher, Kate Grizzell was looking for a degree program that offered the flexibility and support for her busy schedule. The University of Iowa's online Bachelor of Applied Studies (BAS) fit the bill.
It was a promise made to her father that started Nancy Lund down the path to a Bachelor of Applied Studies (BAS) degree. Lund, who was 51 years old at the time she started her degree, had never attended college before pursuing her BAS.
For Jennifer Montgomery, there is nothing more liberating than being able to say she completed her bachelor’s degree when she was 42 years old.
Joe Hobson graduated from the University of Iowa with a Bachelor of Applied Studies (BAS) degree in 2015, but that’s only part of the story. The bigger part of the story is about the determination it took to keep working toward a long-term goal. The definition of perseverance is steadfastness in doing something despite difficulty, and that trait has defined Hobson like no other.
For Greg Hauswirth, a database administrator from Spencer, Iowa, the satisfaction of completing his degree was the motivating force behind going back to school. “My only goal was to complete something that I failed to finish a very long time ago,” says Hauswirth.
Angela Steines was fortunate to have an inspirational supervisor early in her work life, the kind of manager that made sure that her door was always open. So when Steines was given an assignment in her Foundations of Leadership class to interview an inspirational person in her life, she knew just who to choose. “My supervisor always made a point to remember the important life events of all of her employees, says Steines. “She also knew when we were particularly busy and would ask what she could do to help us get caught up.”
Matt Moore is paying it forward in his role as mentor for the University of Iowa Venture School in Des Moines. The Venture School is designed to accelerate the startup process while increasing new business success.
“Ventures don’t tend to fail from a lack of business planning, they tend to fail because of lack of customers, says Moore. “As a mentor, I open up my rolodex to connect them with interview subjects, help the teams formulate their questions, and provide perspective on the answers they get.”
When Ellen Brandau decided to complete her Bachelor of Liberal Studies (BLS) from the University of Iowa, she had no idea how much an online learning experience would prepare her for her next career opportunity. But that’s just what happened.
When Tyler Hahn began his Bachelor of Applied Studies (BAS) degree with an emphasis in creative writing, he dreamed of working in a library. Not only has he achieved that dream, but is now working on his third draft of a novel called Savage’s Letter. Hahn completed a substantial portion of the first draft of this book in his undergraduate novel writing course.
“The class focused on different dimensions of writing and each lesson built upon the previous one,” Hahn says. “The instructor always offered constructive criticism which greatly improved my writing over the semester.”