Please join us in congratulating Monica on being SHLC’s July 2024 Learner of the Month.
Monica was nominated by Petra, an online educator here at Good Learning Anywhere. Here is a statement about Monica from Petra.
Monica is a great example of a learner who perseveres through many personal struggles. She is a single mother and is an immigrant to Canada. She faces a lot of struggles and suffering both mentally and personally with symptoms of anxiety and panic attacks. She has a love of cooking and would like to take a program in Culinary school, hence her enrolling in the Introduction of Food Handler.
After completing the Moodle course, she was offered the certification course in Food Safety Training. A few weeks later it was now time to proctor her and as we went on video I realized she was on video using her phone. She was in tears as she told me she couldn’t log in to the laptop as she closed it up and didn’t know the password to open it and her son was not around to help. I could see her anxiety surfacing as she continued to try and log into the laptop she was using. She didn’t want to miss her testing time and I told her it was ok and that we could do the test the next morning and that everything would be ok. The next morning we met again on video and as she was doing the test, I could see her sighing, wringing her hands, holding her head so I turned on my mic and calmly let her know to relax and the she was going to be ok. She passed with a 92%
She was determined to stay on with GLA and do another course: Safety First – Let’s Learn About WHMIS, which she completed and is now doing the WHMIS Certification course and working on passing that exam. Monica is applying for jobs now with the Food Safety Certification and also looking at into Post–Secondary program in Culinary Arts. She mentioned that she found GLA a safe place for her to learn and the support she receives from us makes it possible to continue to be successful in learning.
We decided to ask Monica some questions so we could share more about their story with you.
How did you first hear about online learning with Good Learning Anywhere?
YMCA
Did you have any struggles during your learning? If so, how did you overcome them?
I don’t have a lot of experience with the technology but my mentor Petra helped me a lot.
What advice do you have for someone thinking about starting to improve their skills?
I strongly recommend GLA to anyone who wants to improve and get better.
What is your greatest achievement? Or what accomplishment are you most proud of?
I’m really really thankful for my mentor because even though I don’t speak English well she made me feel confident in myself, and I completed my courses.
What are your goals for the future?
As I always said, I want to be better as a person and get a better education and I’m very thankful for Good Learning Anywhere.
Is there anyone you would like to thank for supporting you on this journey?
Of course to my mentor, Petra Blain… without her support I wasn’t able to be here.
Is there anything else you would like to share with people about winning this award?
Thank you to all the administration staff for what you do.
Congratulations Monica! All the best in 2024!