So with such a busy life, how can Karen Brown possibly be a full-time college student? Flexible college courses are the key.

"I very much need and enjoy the flexibility distance education has afforded me," Brown says. "I have taken courses through all avenues - seated, online, TV, video cassette, and DVD - because of my love to enrich myself. The TV, video cassette, and DVD courses gave me the best opportunity, though, as I could work them into my schedule and still fulfill my obligations to family, career, church, and community."

Brown finds that convenience is one of the greatest aspects of distance education. "I have literally awoken at 2 a.m. to complete an exam, assignment, or watch a tape," she says. "I can prepare assignments during my lunch at work, while enjoying the sunshine outside, or on my patio on Saturday morning."

Distance courses at CCCC allow Brown to take four classes on top of a full-time job - and still maintain a 4.0 GPA.

"I was married and became a parent very early in life, and my first priority was to my family," Brown says. "In my daughter's teens I began my college life. It was through the telecourses broadcast by [PBS member station UNC-TV in North Carolina] that I first began my journey." Brown discovered that PBS courses offer much more than any textbook could. "I treasured the TV telecourse, video cassette, and DVD formats because they took you to places you might not visit," she says. "For example, during my Western Civilization video cassette course, I was able to view the artifacts of that time, see the museum pieces and paintings and architecture, and feel like I was in a three-dimensional session, with instructor, visuals, and text."

Brown recounts one of her earliest memories of distance education, when she and Jennifer, her teenage daughter, had just finished a relaxing dinner with the TV and the radio purposely silenced.

"As soon as we finished, my daughter asked not to turn on a sitcom, movie, or other non-enriching show, but to watch my psychology distance learning program because she was so interested in the subject," Brown says. "That was supreme."

Brown added that distance learning affected Jennifer in another way: Instead of just hearing her mother lecture about the benefits of a college education, she watched her mother get a college education. That lesson must have stuck; Jennifer is graduating from college in May 2004.

Engaging courses do not mean easy college classes, according to Brown.

"Distance learning is not the easy way out," she says. "On the contrary, you have to act as an entrepreneur of your time, energy, and resources. One must be able to keep up with assignments, have the necessary equipment and a backup for that equipment should it fail, have the time and energy to focus on your education, and be willing to go the extra mile and communicate with your instructor before a crisis arises." As a result, Brown offers a caution to adults thinking of enrolling in distance classes.

"My advice to others considering taking distance learning courses would be to count the costs before you jump," she says. "If you have the drive, ambition, and dedication, which equals discipline, to keep yourself motivated for an entire semester - then I say go for it. But be very sure!"

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While Brown is finishing her associate's degree in business administration at CCCC, she is making plans to earn an online bachelor's degree in business at Franklin University of Ohio.

"I plan to utilize my education at CCCC," she says. "I have a passion to work alongside others, assisting them to attain their goals. My goals are to do something every day toward beginning my own small business that motivates others to greatness."

Brown says she would not be the person she is today if it were not for distance education.

"My greatest desire is to be a pebble in the pond, with the ripples far reaching with great impact," she says. "We have such a short time on this earth to make a difference, I believe it is my honor and duty to take all the gifts and talents I have, encourage others, and make this a better world."