Student Voices

This post is part of “Hard to Hate Up Close: My Journey,” a blog series organized by Penn State World Campus Student Affairs. The goal of blog posts like this is to provide a platform for the Penn State World Campus community of students, faculty, and staff to see one another, appreciate our differences, and discover common ground.

With the right approach in studying and planning, you can set yourself up for success on every exam.

We invite Penn State students to participate in the new blog series, "Hard to Hate Up Close: My Journey" which we hope will serve as a platform for us to better see one another and discover common ground.

Meeting and connecting with classmates are a huge part of college life, but during my first semester at Penn State World Campus, there was little opportunity to interact with my fellow students apart from online discussions.

While final exams are right around the corner, it often feels like the finish line is out of sight. It’s useful to remember why you started your journey with Penn State World Campus to help maintain a motivated mentality.

I wanted to start this post by saying something like, “I’ve always been confident in who I am and very opinionated.” But in reality, that’s not true. It wasn’t until my senior year of college that I really started to understand who I was and be able to express it.

I am an active-duty soldier who works in Retention for the U.S. Army Reserves and am currently pursuing a Bachelor of Science in Finance at Penn State World Campus.

I am grateful to have faced those challenges initially that led me back to the classroom from the corporate world. This has allowed me to make the most of my free time and opened new doors for further career growth.

I completed four semesters, but during the fifth, unexpected family issues arose, and I was unable to finish my degree.

During these troubling times caused by COVID-19, many small businesses have closed. Our economy is so dependent on these local businesses because they provide resources, services, and employment to most of our population.