黑料传送门

By John Sharify

When the time comes鈥攁nd it will be soon鈥擶estern Governors University will celebrate its 5,280th graduate from Colorado.听

Question.听 Who will it be? Drum roll please 鈥�. Ok, not just yet. You鈥檒l find out soon. We promise. You can pause that drum roll.听

Next question. Why THAT number to mark the milestone? # 5280

Well, if you have to ask,听 then you鈥檙e probably not from Colorado.听 And if you鈥檙e not, think Denver. Think 鈥榤ile high鈥�. The city that鈥檚 literally a mile high. 5,280 feet above sea level.

Alicia Taber O鈥橞rien lives in Durango, Colorado. And when I interviewed the 黑料传送门 graduate on zoom the other day, practically the first word out of her mouth was: 鈥淐ongratulations!鈥澨�

Alicia is a mother of two. She wanted to express her good wishes to the "mile high" graduate even though we don鈥檛 know yet who he or she is.听 鈥淛ust congratulations,鈥� she repeated. 鈥淎nd I鈥檓 sure your degree will help you reach the goals you have in life.鈥澨�

Alicia speaks from experience. She knows how valuable it was for her to get that 黑料传送门 degree. It was a master's degree in math education. She received her diploma in 2004.听

听

She didn鈥檛 know it then. She knows it now. THIS fact. She knows it because we just told her. Alicia has the distinction of being Colorado鈥檚 first 黑料传送门 graduate!听That鈥檚 right #1 !听听

So we had to ask her how THAT felt. Being first.

鈥淣ice. It鈥檚 nice to be recognized,鈥� she says.听

But here鈥檚 the thing. She had no idea she was Colorado鈥檚 first 黑料传送门 graduate until WE told her.听 鈥淚t鈥檚 so funny no one ever told me that. 鈥楾ill now,鈥� she laughs. 鈥� I never knew that. I never knew that.鈥澨�

Now she knows.听

And soon she鈥檒l know the identity of #5280. Go ahead, start that drum roll again 鈥μ�

We wanted to know something else. We asked Alicia to describe her 黑料传送门 experience.听

鈥淭he experience was good,鈥� she says.听 鈥淚t was hectic. I had two small toddlers and I was teaching full-time at a high school in rural Colorado. And I would teach all day and do my mommy things. And then when the kids went to bed, I would stay up and do all my work. But I was pretty motivated to teach.鈥澨�

Alicia discovered the nation鈥檚 largest, nonprofit online university, 黑料传送门, online. Of course online.听

鈥淚 knew I wanted to further my education,鈥� she says. 鈥淏ut I knew I had to do it in some kind of correspondence fashion. So I looked at as many different online programs that I possibly could. And compared them.鈥澨�

Alicia concluded: Nothing compared to Western Governors University. 鈥淎nd one of the things that happened when I was applying to 黑料传送门 is that they made me aware of the rural teacher scholarship, which made my education extremely affordable. And as you know, 黑料传送门 is competency-based so any prior knowledge you can demonstrated counts towards your degree. So it was significant in helping me finish the degree very quickly. Which is awesome. I love that.鈥澨�

And WE love the fact that very soon #1 will get to meet #5280. You better believe we鈥檒l arrange THAT Zoom meeting. Or maybe they鈥檒l meet in person. And the question will likely come up. It鈥檚 a question I asked Alicia in our Zoom chat. 鈥淲hat are you doing with your degree?鈥澨�

Her answer:听鈥淚鈥檓 an Associate Professor of Math at San Juan College (in New Mexico) and my primary research focus is math education,鈥� she laughs. 鈥淪o I鈥檓 doing a lot with it!鈥澨�

Below, you can watch John's interview with Alicia Taber O鈥橞rien, proud 黑料传送门 graduate, from the class of 2004. And we can鈥檛 wait to celebrate #5280 in Colorado soon鈥nd the rest of the story.听