How I Found a New Normal in the Online Classroom
By Nicholas Sanders, Insight School of Washington (ISWA) student
Online learning gave this Washington student, Nicholas Sanders, the ability to prioritize his health.
Being able to work from home isn’t just for professionals — for people like me, having the option to learn at home can be a life-changer.
I was diagnosed with ulcerative colitis at age 15. My health prevented me from attending school regularly, and by high school it was starting to impact my plans for graduation and beyond.
That is until I enrolled at Insight School of Washington (ISWA), where I was able to catch up on high school and graduate on time. Despite my health challenges, ISWA felt like the only place that allowed me to feel like a normal student.
Online classes also opened the door for new opportunities on my career path. It was at ISWA that I was introduced to computer programming. As I am now researching in the greater field of machine learning, this early exposure was truly formative for me.
Online school also provided me with the skills to become a self-starter. The ability to keep track of my own classes and progress made me more independent and has contributed to my education today.
I am currently pursuing my PhD at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland, doing research within the field of Natural Language Processing (NLP). NLP is a branch of artificial intelligence that allows a computer to understand text and speech in the same way a human can—think “Alexa,” or “Siri.”
My education is extremely important to my career. The lessons I learned from attending online school—such as the ability to work independently and “self-schedule” my day continues to be useful in post-grad life. Independence is an essential strength in the digital work age. Whatever field you enter, there probably won't be someone watching you work or telling you what to do at every moment as you pursue your academic or career goals. Online school helped me build an indispensable foundation in my education, which has helped me get to where I am today.
To learn more about Insight School of Washington, visit insightwa.k12.com
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