Online Study
Online Student Profiles
Dawn Lamendola
Dawn Lamendola lives in three worlds. World number one is her family. She's married with two young children. World number two is her work. She works three 10-hour days each week as a customer service representative for Preferred Care, a health maintenance organization located in Western New York State. World number three is her education. She recently earned a bachelor's degree in applied arts and sciences through RIT's online learning program and is continuing on at RIT for a master's degree in health systems administration.
"One can successfully continue to work and have children while furthering an education. I am living proof that it is possible," says Dawn, who contends that she would have never been able to earn a bachelor's degree without RIT's online learning program. "Distance learning has allowed me to be successful in accomplishing an education, a career, and most important, motherhood," she adds.
Dawn's online learning classes have utilized a combination of videotaped lectures, online discussions, teleconferences and e-mail. She says she has learned a lot from her classmates. "The people who are in these classes range from people right out of high school to people who are presidents of companies. We had somebody in my last class who was an administrator from a hospital, and he brought so much to the table."
Dawn also has high praise for her instructors, especially Health Systems Administration professor Larry Belle, who, she says, forced her to become Internet savvy, especially for research purposes. "He really incorporated using the Internet and these databases available through the library to do research and write papers." All RIT distance learning students have online access to a librarian, full-text online articles, as well as interlibrary loan and document delivery services. For example, Dawn frequently will access the Lexus-Nexus database at the RIT library via her Internet connection at home to conduct research for a class paper. "I struggled at first to find and use databases and Web sites," she says. "But with lots of practice, seeking resources became easier. I was amazed at the wealth of information available and how incredibly easy it is to access and receive this information. If Larry Belle had not shown me these databases, I would have been sitting at the library for hours on end trying to figure out how to do research for a paper. I realized I could do it all right from my home. I've ordered articles through the library right online, and they have Fed-Exed them to me within a day or two. It's an amazing way of doing research."
Dawn's distance learning experiences have also enhanced her job as a customer service representative for Preferred Care, where she frequently has to communicate with senior citizens who have plenty of questions and issues concerning their health care. "The health systems administration program has provided me with the foundation on health issues so that I can be confident explaining situations and issues to customers who contact me," she says. "Instead of simply having a yes or no answer, I can show them a larger perspective of health care. As I gain more knowledge, I can use it to educate them."