Allan Neal, BBA-MKTG, Operations Supervisor, Fanshawe College Retail Services shares his experience of returning to school more than 25 years later…

I have often thought of wanting to advance my education and work towards a business degree since receiving my Business Marketing diploma from Fanshawe College is 1983. Nothing seemed to be possible to fit into my day to day life until I met Emily Kaminski at the OCASA conference in summer of 2010.

Emily explained to me the possibilities at Davenport University online and the fact that I could get some credits towards my degree from my previous education. She then explained all the processes on applying. I finally decided to apply on December 3, 2010 and from that point until January 21, 2011 I went back and forth with Emily until I was accepted into the business program. My acceptance carried a course load of 13 courses that ranged in from 7-10 weeks each and I could take up to two courses at the time.  It would be very challenging to complete the courses and work my full time job at the same time. I was assigned an advisor, Jackie Davila, who helped me throughout this process.

I started fairly slow and didnít receive great grades and wondered what I had got myself into. As I started to understand the commitment required and the Blackboard software system, I slowly got better at working through the courses. The online learning at the school really creates a virtual classroom experience and I enjoyed the group projects and the fellow students I met from many different areas including some fellow Canadians.

I finished my degree in November of 2012 and felt a great sense of accomplishment. A nice surprise was a letter from the President of Davenport University, Richard Pappas, which stated I had made the Presidents list in the Fall Semester of 2012, which is a GPA of 3.8 or higher. I would encourage anyone that has a college diploma who thinks, that returning to school after such a long period away to complete their degree is not a realistic goal, to look into the Davenport option.  

It was such a rewarding experience and I would recommend it to anyone. Thanks to all the staff at Davenport and everyone who helped make this possible!