Meet AIU Students and Alumni
Crystal Dye
Master's of Information Technology
Meet Crystal Dye: She's at the Head of the Class
Crystal Dye could have stopped at her Bachelor's degree and been the first one in her family to have attained that level of education. She kept going though, not only earning a Master's degree of Information Technology through AIU Online, but also taking a position as a university instructor!
"Coming from a family where no one had ever been to college, much less earned a Master's degree, I never, ever planned on being a university instructor. But, due to the exceptional experience I had with all the instructors at AIU Online, I chose to follow in their footsteps and become an online professor myself. My family is so proud."
That's not the only reason they have to be proud of Crystal either. In addition to teaching two online classes—usually Information Systems, Web Application Development, or Introduction to Information Security—every five-week term, Crystal also works full-time as Director of Information Technology at Mountain Mission School in her hometown of Grundy, Virginia.
Crystal has been working for Mountain Mission School since graduating with her Bachelor's degree in May 2003, but it was only after she completed her Master's degree of IT that she was promoted to Director of Information Technology. As Director of IT Crystal oversees both the corporate and educational IT needs of the school. Of course she has her own office too...where her diploma is proudly displayed.
"While I think I might have been able to serve as the Director of IT without a Master's degree, I couldn't have been successful at the job without the education I gained while getting my Master's." Even before Crystal was promoted she was using what she was learning at AIU Online at work. "I could bring so much information right into the workplace. It was seamless the way everything tied together and could be immediately applied." Now that she has gotten her promotion, Crystal finds herself using what she has learned every day. "Every hour, even."
With the level of education she has now achieved, Crystal doesn't just stand out in her family, but also in her community. "I live in a very rural area and higher education isn't easily accessible. When I wanted to get my Bachelor's degree, I had no choice but to leave home to go to school. (Crystal earned her Bachelor's degree in Psychology from Milligan College in Tennessee.) I didn't have the option of relocating again to get my Master's degree. If it wasn't for online education, I would not have been able to get my Master's degree."
The closest university to Crystal's home in rural Virginia that offers a Master's degree in her field is an eight-hour drive away. Because an accredited university offering advanced degrees is so far away, there are few people with Master's degrees and above in Crystal's community.
Crystal was able to realize her dream of having a Master's degree because she was willing to look outside the box. "Once I learned about accreditation and saw that AIU Online was legitimately accredited, I saw that going to school online didn't mean I would be learning any less or that my degree would be worth any less. But it—going to school online—did mean that I would be able to continue my education while staying in my hometown and working at my full-time job. If it wasn't for online education, I really wouldn't have been able to get my Master's degree."
"I knew that if I wanted a really good job, I needed a really good education. I could have gotten—actually, I did get —a job with a four-year degree, but I needed a Master's degree to have more than a job. The career I wanted required a Master's degree. My education at AIU Online helped me get the career I wanted...and then another one I wasn't expecting as a university instructor."
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