If there’s a common thread among online or distance learning students, it’s being self-motivated and great with time management, and that is certainly the case with West Coast University online MHA student Sarah Minici.
While working as an instructor at American Career College, Minici decided she wanted to return to healthcare and enrolled in the online Master of Health Administration program at West Coast University in August 2020.
Even with an already busy schedule, between juggling her own coursework and her children’s school and sports activities, Minici continued to push herself. In late 2021, an opportunity was presented to her to do an online internship with the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), and she jumped at the chance. She always wanted to do something that could make a broad impact.
For Minici, who has an interest in mental health, that meant creating a series of mental health toolkits on topics like post-COVID and post-partum depression that were distributed to global health organizations connected to individuals living in parts of the world with expressed need.
“My overall takeaway from this internship was the massive amount of mental health services there are on a global level. I feel as a society there is a certain stigma attached to needing mental health resources,” Minici said.
Minici said going through the MHA program, she now sees the impact administrators can make in a variety of settings, including mental health departments.
Minici has completed her internship and was scheduled to graduate in August 2022, but she requested to take her final two courses concurrently and is on track to graduate a few months early in May.
“With work, school, family, I’ve got a million things going on,” Minici said. “Online learning is for anyone who has organizational and time-management skills. It’s 100 percent on you. I’m proof it can work.”
WCU Distance education programs are delivered out of the California and Texas campuses and may not be available to residents in all states.
WCU provides career guidance and assistance but cannot guarantee employment. The views and opinions expressed are those of the individuals and do not necessarily reflect the beliefs or position of the school or of any instructor or student.
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