Darla Wiehle, '09/'12
Making Online Education More Than a Virtual Reality
By Theresa Schmidt ‘09
For Darla Wiehle, online education is more than a virtual reality: it’s offered her
a chance to pursue her education without sacrificing working full-time in healthcare
and raising her two children. “Since I have always had a full-time position in the
workforce, online classes made it easier for me to complete the work on my own schedule
and at my convenience,” Darla explains. “The McKendree experience has been wonderful;
all of the advisors I have worked with and counselors have been so helpful and encouraging.”
"She was and is truly an inspiration to her students."
In fact, it was the encouragement of one McKendree teacher in particular that helped
motivate Darla into pursuing her Master’s of Business Administration (MBA) after graduating from McKendree’s AiM program with a Bachelor of Business Administration
(BBA) in 2009: “I had courses that I really enjoyed; one of those was the psychology
class taught by Dr. Tami Eggleston … She encouraged me to complete the MBA program. She was and is truly an inspiration
to her students; anyone who has a chance to interact with Dr. Eggleston is fortunate!”
Of course, a good education depends on the commitment of the student as well, as Darla
knows well. She says, “When our children were growing up, I had thought about going
back to school but all of the classes required actually attending and were not available
online. They were all on Tuesday and Thursday evenings; our son played basketball
and his games were on those evenings. I did not want to miss any of his games so waited
for quite some time. I began the BBA program in 2009 and had to work really hard to
catch up since I also took most of my electives at the same time I was in the BBA
program.”
"The MBA ... has allowed me to move into senior management roles ..."
The opportunity to pursue her MBA online was a blessing, professionally as well as
personally: “I have benefited in so many ways from going back to college as an adult
and receiving my MBA degree. The MBA, along with extensive work experience, has allowed
me to move into senior management roles that would not have been open to me without
an advanced degree.”
Working as the Director of Process Re-Engineering at Anderson Hospital since 2011
and in healthcare since 1990, Darla found Organizational Behavior and her psychology
courses with Dr. Eggleston particularly helpful in the workplace. “I have always worked
in healthcare with a large number of diverse employees. Every organization has their
own culture, so this class [Organizational Behavior] was very insightful,” she recalls.
“[In psychology courses,] it was interesting to explore the insights of why people
react the way that they do; that insight proved to be very valuable.”
"When you have an advanced degree your perspective becomes very different."
Even Darla’s perspective and worldview have opened up with this continued education.
She notes, “When you have an advanced degree your perspective becomes very different.
You realize that there are many different ways to approach an issue to solve it. You
learn to pick your battles and not make snap judgments when you are faced with a difficult
situation, either in the workplace or elsewhere. A lot of that experience obviously
comes from age and experience, but furthering your education also plays a very big
part as well.”
Thanks to her own positive experiences with McKendree’s online offerings, Darla is eager to pass her love for lifelong learning to everyone around
her: “Maturity and responsibility played a huge part in my experience. I wanted to
excel in the classes and do the very best that I could. I am a big proponent of McKendree
University already and always encourage anyone to go back and further their education.”
Ready to turn online education into more than a virtual reality?
