Student Spotlights: How Online Learning Prepared International Students for College Success
- Posted by Ashley Barrick
- Categories Online Learning
- Date October 16, 2023
Online education has the power to enable students from all over the world to customize their education experience. Rather than being confined to what traditional brick-and-mortar schools can offer, online education allows students to advance their learning with additional subjects, flexible schedules, and advanced courses, such as Dual Credit or AP classes.
International students can especially benefit from this approach to education, and Sevenstar serves students from countries all over the world. Recently, we had the privilege to check in with some of our former students and hear the story of their online educational experience from their own perspective.
Elaine and Cassie both graduated from Sevenstar Academy and are from Taiwan and China respectively. They may have chosen an online education for different reasons, but both have greatly benefited from their experience, which has also contributed to their post-secondary success.
Elaine moved to America from Taiwan while she was in high school. Because of the differing education systems, Elaine needed to gain a lot of credits quickly to graduate on time.
Thankfully, Elaine was introduced to Sevenstar through the homeschool community that was hosted at her church. Rather than attend a traditional school, Cassie’s family made the decision to enroll her in an online education in the hopes of graduating within her desired timeframe.
Because of the online asynchronous model, Elaine was able to customize her course load. One of the courses that made a major impact on her future in America was English.
“My first language is not English. In the first year, it was pretty tough for me…the English skills were the first and most important thing that helped me a lot.”
Not only was there a significant language barrier to overcome, but she was also missing foundational knowledge of core American subjects (such as history and government) that she had never been exposed to while living in Taiwan. Thankfully, her online courses were able to bridge that gap.
“The education in the US and other countries [is] really different. It was a really good transition for trying to figure out more about America”.
“It was a really good transition for trying to figure out more about America”
Elaine also explained that completing high school online helped her immensely when she began college. Gaining experience with navigating various online platforms and completing different assignments such as discussions and quizzes helped her to be confident when it came to her college work.
“The first semester I took online because of Covid. I didn’t come to America; I studied in Taiwan….even though [the] university’s website and stuff is really different, I’m really familiar with all of [it].
While the academics were obviously important, Elaine’s favorite part about her online learning experience was that the courses were biblically integrated and taught by instructors who truly cared about encouraging her, both academically and in her walk with Christ. She recalled having monthly zoom meetings with her instructors who took the time to pray with her.
“All of the instructors [at Sevenstar] are trying to help us not only academically but also [know] more about God’s love.”
“All of the instructors [at Sevenstar] are trying to help us not only academically but also [know] more about God’s love.
Elaine has since taken what she’s learned from her online education and applied it to achieve a two-year degree in graphic design. Following her graduation from the program, Elaine plans to transfer to a four-year university and earn her bachelor’s degree in art education so she can combine her love of art with her desire to make a difference in the lives of children.
While Elaine’s goal was to graduate quickly, Cassie was excited to join Sevenstar, where she had access to an abundance of AP and elective courses, since the selection of courses at her brick-and-mortar school in China was limited.
“When I was with Sevenstar, I was also attending a more arts-focused program (physically) in Shanghai… a lot of the AP courses weren’t typically offered in the physical schools, so Sevenstar gave me the chance to take the AP courses that I really wanted to take like AP Art History.”
When Elaine began college at Cornell University to pursue a degree in design and environmental analysis, she discovered that the AP courses she took online were invaluable to her college studies. Not only is she eligible to graduate a semester early if she chooses, but the courses also gave her a solid background in some of the topics that are focused on heavily within her major.
“[Sevenstar] prepared me with more foundational knowledge that I am currently using now in my major. We are required to learn design history as a pre-requisite for my major, so because I took AP art history, that prepared me pretty well for that.”
Elaine observed that some of her peers in college struggled with time management when taking online classes; however, because of her experience with online learning in high school, she knew how to prioritize her work and navigate the online learning platform.
“It was a habit already to do those things.”
“[Sevenstar] prepared me with more foundational knowledge that I am currently using now in my major”
Elaine and Cassie are both great examples of how online learning prepares students for success in college and beyond. Whether students pursue online learning for the course offerings, the flexible schedule, or the opportunity to learn from an international institution, online learning promises to provide students with the self-discipline, time management, and support they need to be successful in whatever they choose to pursue after graduation