Barbara Lehtiniemi is a writer and photographer from Ontario. She’s a graduate of Athabasca University, having completed her Bachelor of General Studies degree in 2018.
A regular contributor to The Voice Magazine for over ten years, Barbara has also contributed to other publications including Chicken Soup for the Soul and Maclean’s. Barbara writes in several genres, including non-fiction, fiction, and poetry. She’s eternally grateful to The Voice Magazine for providing the opportunity to explore an array of topics and writing styles.
Barbara has a fondness for travel, used bookstores, everyday absurdities, and oversized wine glasses. Originally from urban Southwestern Ontario, she now lives on a windswept rural road in Eastern Ontario.
Where’s the money for your next AU course coming from? If you answered “I don’t know,” perhaps you need to explore AU’s scholarship opportunities. There are eight scholarships or bursaries with application deadlines of February 15. There is still have time to examine these opportunities and submit your application. AU’s awards application process is now… Read more »
The end is approaching quickly. Too quickly! I revised my study plan for the next few months and realized that I have just over three months of AU studies left—about a hundred days. By April 30 I will have completed all the courses for my degree. Suddenly, graduation will be this year. In one sense,… Read more »
Will 2018 be the year you make a difference in someone’s life? Could you help someone lift themselves out of poverty, launch a small business, or complete their education? Making a big impact is easier than you think. In 2017 I invested in a Peruvian corn farm. On the same day, I invested in a… Read more »
A fresh new year is intoxicating. In the last days of the old year, the new year sits there, like an unwrapped present. You don’t know what the package holds, but you know it’s full of promise. Last year started full of promise, too, but we’re ready to discard it. We eagerly await the new… Read more »
In her January executive blog, AUSU president Shawna Wasylyshyn asks, “who are the students of AU?” In her capacity as student union council president, Wasylyshyn interacts with countless people in the post-secondary education community. Some, she feels, view AU students as “disadvantaged”, “marginalized”, or people with “no other choice” but to attend AU. Like Wasylyshyn,… Read more »
For AU students, meeting another student is a rare occurrence. We study in solitude. Opportunities to meet other students are limited. Social media is one way to connect, but Facebook can’t replace face-to-face. Organized gatherings tend to focus on Alberta, with occasional gatherings held in large cities elsewhere. I was pleased to be able to… Read more »
I was asked to describe what it’s like to go to AU. Like many students, I benefit from the uniqueness of AU and I was happy to share my passion for the AU experience. If I could sum up AU in two words, those words would be “removes barriers”. The absence of barriers is the… Read more »
Have you looked at the calendar recently? You may have been so absorbed in your schoolwork—so disciplined and focussed—that you overlooked how quickly time is passing. It’s time to raise your head from your textbooks and count the days until Christmas. If you need to get any seasonal shopping done, it’s time to start thinking… Read more »
Do you ever feel like when you submit an assignment for marking, you’re playing roulette? Occasionally, the results seem random, just like the spin of a wheel. Most of the time, assignment marks seem to be reasonably accurate assessments. But once in a while, I wonder if the marker just pulled a random number out… Read more »
This month, I began what I hope will be my Best AU Course Ever. Not just because it’s the last one to complete my degree—although that’s certainly reason enough to love a course. Mainly it’s because this final AU course is the one I wanted to take the most. When I enrolled in the Bachelor… Read more »