Making Time with Family While in School:
Amanda Reed’s Story with ANU
For Amanda Reed, earning her education was not only a conquest to better her future, but a chance for her to show her children that school is possible at any time and any age. She enrolled in American National University’s Health Information Management associate degree program, to not only show her children that school is for anyone at any time, but to attain her goal of earning her education to better her future. And through ANU’s eLearning platform, Amanda has been able to balance taking care of her three children and starting a new job while attending her classes.
When it came to earning her education to achieve her personal goals, Amanda chose ANU because of our 100% online education programs. Her children were a big part of why she wanted to attend an online program, “if they’re sick, they can be at home while I’m in school, and I don’t have to miss class.” Not only that, but Amanda wants to be able to work from home for the same reasons – and Medical Billing and Coding, a core foundation to the Health Information Management associate degree, provided that opportunity for her. “My kids are all very active in sports and I don’t want to miss that, so with a work from home job, I have that flexibility. And medical billing and coding has a lot of [opportunity].”
Through her classes, Amanda has found success because of her instructors. “ANU has really good professors,” she says. She believes she is being prepared to enter the workforce because of their attention to their students. “Dr. Dingle has been my favorite – she’s very well-spoken and taught us to be well-spoken. She just made it a professional class… I feel like the professors and the school itself gives you that professional aspect.” Amanda can work at her own pace within her classes, and she’s able to do most of her classwork during the day when her children are in school. “That’s my favorite thing about ANU – I can prioritize when I get my work done.”
With ANU’s term structure, where a term begins every ten weeks, Amanda is set to graduate by next year. “I like the ten-week classes because you learn a lot and it is quick, and it goes by quickly as well… at [an in-person] school, it’s hard to get back in the mindset for school because of the gaps in breaks.” She believes that her ethics class had a profound impact on her because it allowed her to not only speak her mind without judgement, but also allowed her to open her mind to other opinions of her classmates. She says her classes have also allowed her to build a network with her classmates, “I am building a bond with them… you make those friends, you message them like ‘hey I don’t understand this, can you help me?’”
Her future goals include finding a job in Health Information Management that she can do from home so that she can be with her family. “Family is the most important to me.”
Amanda would recommend ANU to others looking to pursue their higher education. “With online school, it makes life a little bit easier. It makes it easier to achieve those goals.”
Her advice to new students at ANU: “Reach out to your teachers, they are there for you, they will get in contact with you.” She advises students to not procrastinate and to keep on top of their classes.
