Hey guys! Ms. Duggan is back! I know it’s been awhile since I updated my blog but as you know I was working in Italy as a mental health clinician on an archaeological dig site. Don’t worry you will get ALL the details later. I’m finally back at work and getting back to my normal busy life and things are going well so far. But around the time I got back into the swing of things I had a major doctoral catastrophe! (Figure 1: This is a thumbnail of my latest YouTube video “My Doctoral Horror Story” where I am looking at the camera with a terrified look.) While I was away, I was still enrolled in two courses that had been going pretty well. I actually finished one while I was in Italy and received an A in the course. The other course had one last assignment due that I planned to finish once I got back to the states. However, to my surprise it was due while I was in Italy and I was totally not prepared to finish it. (Figure 2: This is a photo of Ms. Jay, an African American male fashion
Did you know that some universities offer free courses? COVID really did a number on higher education with declining numbers and students choosing other pathways to success. As a result, colleges had to pivot to keep numbers afloat, so they did not lose funding. One of the ways they did this was by allowing students to take free courses. I’m not sure where the funding came from (it may have been HEERF Funding), but it was a great opportunity for students to get what they needed at zero cost. I'm sure many of our free college for all folks would argue that this should be a permanent option. Figure 1: This is a thumbnail of my latest YouTube video “Get University Courses for Free” where I am smiling with my hand under my chin. My hair is styled in long twists. Since the start of my doctoral program in August 2020 I have taken two free courses and will take another one in May. These courses have helped me to finish my coursework very quickly! While the first free course that I too