- Student; Online
Shannon McLoud hadn’t been a student for about a decade when she enrolled in SNHU’s online English language and literature program.
She was married, the mother of a young son, and helping to care for her father, who is battling Huntington’s disease. She was also working full-time at an early childhood learning center where she teaches and directs the music and theater programs.
“To be honest, I didn’t think I could do it,” Shannon says. “I am so thankful that my professors proved me wrong!”
Shannon’s goals were to earn a bachelor’s degree, get certified to teach in Rhode Island, where she lives, and find a job as a high school English teacher.
“I adored my high school English teacher. She pushed me, helped me discover my love of Shakespeare,” Shannon says. “I wanted to do that for kids.”
At SNHU, she found new role models, and more inspiration.
“Brandi Scollins Mantha opened up writing for me again, big time,” Shannon says of the Popular Fiction and Fiction Writing courses she took with the instructor. “She got the fire going!”
Faculty member Andrea Strudensky’s class in Literary Theory provided another spark.
“I was petrified, and I thought it would be so hard, but she was so encouraging,” Shannon says. “She helped me realize that I could do this for a living.”
Looking back, Shannon says she made “the best decision” by choosing SNHU.
“The professors were not only supportive and knowledgeable, wonderful and interesting, but they also unlocked my passion for writing,” she says.
