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.
What is your brain doing this summer? While many students continue their studies through the summer, others follow the traditional school year and take the summer off. And why not? Summer is an inviting time to get outdoors and away from studies for while. A summer break need not be an all-or-nothing concept. For students… Read more »
Have you ever committed yourself to a course of action in order to force yourself to take on a challenge? Last year, I e-mailed the then-new editor of The Voice Magazine and said I’d like to write for the magazine. I pressed “send” quickly, before I could manufacture reasons why not to. Six months and… Read more »
If You’re a geek, you probably already know that May 25 is “Geek Pride Day.” This is the day for geeks worldwide to come out of their bedrooms and demonstrate pride in their geekiness. I’m not a geek (not that there’s anything wrong with being geek) but I have friends who are geeks. If you… Read more »
It is a truth universally acknowledged that a man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of .. a dinner companion? According to this recent CBC News article, rich men and women are available to take young students out to dinner. That’s right, students can dine like royalty and get paid for… Read more »
David Suzuki can’t tell me what to do. His foundation is promoting its third annual “30×30 Challenge” this month. The challenge is a call to action for individuals to spend 30 minutes in nature for 30 days. Whether It’s a local park, a nature trail, a beach, or a backyard, the point is to get… Read more »
What do you do if your exam is lost in the mail? The relief I feel after writing an exam is tempered by anxiety. It’s a long journey by post from Ontario to Athabasca in Alberta. What if my exam gets lost? A lost exam is probably rare but must occasionally happen. As a university… Read more »
Could you let someone else select the books you read? According to a recent article in Maclean’s magazine, some customers of a Toronto bookstore are doing just that. Last year, the “Monkey’s Paw” second-hand bookstore installed a machine that dispenses random books for $2 each. Clearly intended to move less-worthy stock, customers nevertheless are enjoying… Read more »
If You’re already using colour and shapes in your note-taking, you may be ready for the next level: mind mapping. Mind mapping is a highly visual method of keeping notes and thoughts organized. Particularly useful for students, mind mapping techniques brings your study notes to life. Mind maps are powerful memory aids incorporating the whole-brain… Read more »
If you wrote 50 items on your grocery list but then forgot to bring the list with you, how many items would you remember? What if you had 200 items? Or thousands? Students? study notes sometimes resemble grocery lists?bulleted lists of jotted words and phrases. Students pore over pages of such notes, willing their mind… Read more »
Dr. Sunday Akin Olukoju has been a tutor at Athabasca University since mid-2011. His courses include: GLST/POEC 230 (Globalization and World Politics,) POLI/GOVN/GLST 440 (Global Governance and Law,) and GLST/POEC 483 (International Political Economy: The Politics of Globalization.) Sunday tutors up to several dozen students in these courses. Dr. Olukoju was recently interviewed by The… Read more »