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.
AUSU will be holding its council elections at the end of February 2018. While that’s still three months away, it’s not too early to begin thinking about running for a seat on council. The call for nominations will go out in January, and campaigning will begin barely two weeks later. If you’re even considering running… Read more »
It’s an exciting time at The Voice! For 25 years The Voice has published a quality magazine for and by AU students. This month, with the fresh look of its website, The Voice is drawing more attention and more readers. As an AU student, you might be thinking, “How can I be a part of… Read more »
November 1. This is it—the beginning of the end. I have six months to complete the requirements for my degree, and I’ve just started my very last course. Within six months, I’ll submit the final assignment. Breaking the plastic wrap on the final bundle of textbooks, printing out the final study schedule, staring at the… Read more »
In last week’s article, Back to the Future, we examined some of the headline issues for The Voice readers of 1994. This week, we take a look at how quaintly archaic 1994 seems to be—now. In addition to the apparent gloomy financial situation at AU, The Voice in 1994 brims with quaintly outdated details: In… Read more »
“AU reacts to cutbacks and the call for a new mandate.” “President’s stand on AU’s future: Fight cuts with growth.” “Advanced Ed. faces $175M cut.” Do these headlines worry you? Relax! Although these are actual headlines, they headed articles published in The Voice almost 25 years ago. AU is still here, and so is The… Read more »
It’s my first Friday the 13th, and I’m clinging to the back of a motorcycle. It’s a hot day and it feels great to escape the city’s heat. Through my leather jacket and jeans I can feel the temperature drop as the highway slices through farmland. Even with a bulky helmet on, I can discern… Read more »
Why did Margaret Atwood write a book that no one will read until long after she is dead? It sounds like a bad riddle, but it’s true. In 2014, Canadian author Margaret Atwood completed a story called Scribbler Moon. The story has been sealed in a vault in Norway and will remain unpublished and unread… Read more »
Back when I first enrolled in my AU program, I read some advice from a student who was approaching the end of her studies. That student, Dawne, wanted to leave some parting words to encourage other students. In addition to her own words of encouragement, Dawne also included words of advice another student had posted… Read more »
If you had a chance of receiving $1000 for 30 seconds of effort, would you try for it? This is not a theoretical question. This autumn, AUSU will give $1000 to the winner of its new #Igo2AU Award. To apply for the award, all you have to do is submit either a 30-second video or… Read more »
Post-secondary education is expensive. If you’ve enrolled in an AU course recently, you may have noticed tuition has become even more expensive for most students. Brace yourself: you may be paying even more soon, as AUSU is revising their bylaws and the new structure will probably require an increase to the membership fees it levies… Read more »