Spotlight on Fritz Foraker

Fritz Foraker
Digital Communication Student

Like a lot of high school graduates with limited resources, I needed to stay in my home town and attend the local community college to get started toward a degree.

When I was close to completing my associate's degree in Information Technology at Zane State Community College, I was on the lookout for colleges that offered online courses in Web Design. I'd taken a few online courses through Zane State and really liked the learning experience. So when I saw an advertisement about Franklin University accepting all the credits from my associate's degree, I was immediately interested.

It's cool that it has all worked out so well. Not only did Franklin accept all my credits into the online Digital Communication Major (just what I wanted!), but I was also able to take some of the classes at the Zane State tuition rate. Talk about a real deal!

As a student, I'm getting awesome hands-on design experience through the online learning format that is a lot more creative than I was expecting. Also, being long distance from the class instructor and class members isn't a big deal, because there are so many ways to communicate. We use email and telephone to work through group projects, and the online Bulletin Board and Announcements for each are useful to know what's coming up each week. It really works for me.

I especially like how all the coursework is posted before the course even begins, so I can plan my study time around my job and band rehearsals (I'm in a local rock band). In traditional classes, we just showed up with the book and a pad of paper and had no idea what to expect. Franklin's Balanced Learning Format is so much more useful and is helping me stay organized.

As an assistant manager at Blockbuster, I'm already able to use the technical abilities from my Digital Communication classes to understand all the POS terminal issues. And the communication courses are helping me stay on top of things as a leader. I'm glad Franklin's online courses aren’t rigid. I can work, play my guitar, enjoy a round of golf, and still have time to maintain good grades in subjects that really interest me.

So far, I have straight A's — and lots of optimism about my career. After graduating from Franklin, I plan to move to a bigger city where I'll have tons of opportunities as a Web designer.

My advice to people who might think they don't have education choices at home? There are many ways to succeed. Check out Franklin — it might be just as perfect for you as it is for me.