Meet Debbie Boyd, CTU Online student, former IBM quality assurance auditor, political veteran, and car enthusiast.
”My ideal job would be to create a Web portal where everyone would come together to solve the problems of the world. Instead of being focused on partisan politics and power, they would focus on the things that really matter like alleviating hunger and providing opportunity for everyone.”
From the Beltway to the Information Superhighway, a Passion for Learning
People who meet Debbie Boyd might be surprised to learn that in addition to being an online student at CTU online, this part-time dog walker and former IBM quality assurance auditor is also a political news junkie who ran for political office in Vermont. “I knew Howard Dean before he ran for president when he was a state senator,” says Debbie, who ran for the Vermont House of Delegates in 1983. She now calls Arlington, Va. home and has another hidden talent for fixing up used cars. Her favorite models are Ford and Oldsmobile.
Debbie is enrolled in CTU’s Bachelor of Business administration program and was named to the Chancellor’s list for receiving straight As in her last two courses. Debbie, who hopes to one day run her own business on the Internet, hadn’t even used a computer until a year ago when she enrolled in her first online class at CTU. She can’t say enough about the positive aspects of online learning at CTU.
"The emphasis on self-instruction is more of a Socratic method with the instructor guiding you and mentoring you, but ultimately you’re teaching yourself and learning from other students as well. I find the group projects an interesting aspect of learning at CTU because they replicate what goes on in the real world where you have to work in project teams to get things done. You come in contact with people who have different ideas of where they want to go in life and they each bring a unique approach. You might have one person who’s pursuing a teaching degree, someone else who’s serving in the military—and they’re not confined to a time zone—you have students from eastern, central and pacific zones and that also makes it interesting.”
Favorite class: “Operations management. I liked it because it was a realistic depiction of problems you encounter in the corporate world. We analyzed major problems and how they impacted the business company-wide from shipping to accounting”
Favorite television show: The West Wing
Favorite takeout food: Pizza and Chinese.
Advice for other students: “Don’t procrastinate. Get started on your assignments right away. Don’t wait until three days before the assignment is due to get started. The classes move at a fast pace and you have to stay on top of your coursework. “