Human Services

Click on the links below to read about each student's experience at Antioch:

• Debra Sund
  Individualized Program: Holistic Early Childhood Education
  B.A. Liberal Studies, current student
• Colleen Crotty
  Psychology
  B.A. Liberal Studies, 2007
• Young-wha Coulter
  Individualized Program: Social Justice and the Arts
  B.A. Liberal Studies, 2007
• Oliver Chadd
  Human Services
  B.A. Liberal Studies, 2007
• Aaron Dietz
  Arts & Literature
  B.A. Liberal Studies, 2007
• Tina Grant
  Spiritual Studies
  B.A. Liberal Studies, 2007
• Richard Long
  Arts & Literature
  B.A. Liberal Studies, 2007
• Lance Wischler
  Leadership & Organizational Studies
  B.A. Liberal Studies, 2007
• Cheryl Honey
  Individualized Program: Transformative Community Building and Participatory Democracy
  B.A. Liberal Studies, 2006
• Patricia Cavit
  B.A. Liberal Studies, 2005
• Bob Hasegawa
  B.A. Liberal Studies, 2003
• Danielle Cameron
  B.A. Liberal Studies, 2002
  M.A. Psychology, Art Therapy with Mental Health Counseling, 2005
• Carson Marshall
  B.A. Liberal Studies, 2001
  M.A. Whole Systems Design — Organization Systems Renewal, 2003
• Mary Sherhart
  B.A. Liberal Studies, 1999
• Margie King Bloch
  B.A. Liberal Studies, 1997
  M.A. Whole Systems Design — Organization Systems Renewal, 2000

Debra Sund
Individualized Program: Holistic Early Childhood Education
B.A. Liberal Studies, current student

If you ask Debra Sund for thoughts on making Antioch affordable, she'll tell you to look into options for financial aid.

"I also recommend asking about awards from smaller organizations in the community. While they may not pay your entire tuition, they may help with books or partial tuition," she says.

Sund, who is completing her bachelor's degree in holistic early childhood education at Antioch, received a 2007 Women's Opportunity Award from the South Seattle Soroptimist Club.

Soroptimist International, a women's service organization for executive and professional businesswomen, last year distributed more than $1.1 million to women around the world who were primary wage earners for their families. The awards are designed to improve women's economic status by gaining additional skills, training and education.

Sund is a single parent of a son with special needs. She has been a preschool family educator for the Seattle Public Schools Head Start program for more than a decade.

Her educational journey began when she started to assist at her son's school. He wouldn't attend without her, so she went along. Soon, teachers gave her work to do. She rapidly progressed from volunteer to paid hourly employee.

Sund's goal is a master's degree or teacher certification once she completes her B.A. She says she chose Antioch because it was a place where she could bring together her prior experience and education and design a B.A. program that would fit her needs. She was able to earn 10 prior learning credits for experiences she had before she joined Head Start.

"These credits assist in moving the degree process forward, but they also validate life experiences that often go uncelebrated. For students with financial issues, they are also are a cost-effective way to reach a credit goal. This is a positive way to help students on their way," she notes.

There are plenty of other reasons why Sund would recommend Antioch to prospective students.

"I have to say I have appreciated the freedom at Antioch and the smaller class size. Antioch has a supportive and comfortable atmosphere for an adult learner.

"All my time spent at Antioch has been a positive progression. One class has led into another and has moved me ever forward. I have had the freedom to try cross-program offerings that have changed my ultimate goal for education," she says.

Her B.A. will meet future federal requirements for those employed in the Head Start program. The value of her Antioch studies runs deeper than that, though.

"I have gained a voice and new confidence in my personal abilities," Sund says. "This, in turn, has contributed to an improvement in the services I provide to the children and their families in my Head Start classroom."

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Colleen Crotty
Psychology
B.A. Liberal Studies, 2007

Colleen Crotty had been managing an outdoor shop in downtown Seattle when she decided to look into completing her bachelor's degree at Antioch.

Antioch had the psychology courses she was looking for and, after speaking with an admissions counselor, she discovered Antioch would accept all her previously earned college credits as well as give her credit for life experience. After an information session she attended, she chose to enroll.

"I learned to appreciate my life process rather than be ashamed of the route I took in getting back to school and completing my B.A. I also learned to articulate my prior work/learning experiences. These have been very helpful in my interviews in the last few months," Crotty says, describing how Candace Harris, core faculty and coordinator for prior learning/credit for life experience, was key to making this especially positive for her. 

"All of the staff and all of the folks in the B.A. office inspire me. I enjoyed all of the classes I had with core faculty. The support they provided truly blew my mind," she notes.

She's reminded of when she applied to graduate schools and needed letters of recommendation from faculty on very short notice. Three of the four faculty members she asked wrote letters for her in less than two days.

"That was when I realized that the staff at Antioch will do anything to support their students. I love Antioch!!

"It's a great school. They teach you to look at things differently and to get involved in the community. I wouldn't trade my experience for anything."

What does she tell prospective students about the cost of a private school? "I tell them because of the prior learning credits being discounted, the high private school costs are somewhat offset."

She has no doubts about the value of her Antioch education as she embarks on her new career as a quit counselor for Free and Clear, a smoking cessation counseling program.

"I am currently in training for a new position and in the training I have been asking and answering about four times as many questions as the rest of my peers," Crotty says. "The trainers appreciate my involvement and I don't feel I had the confidence to stand out in classes prior to my work at Antioch."

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Young-wha Coulter
Individualized Program: Social Justice and the Arts
B.A. Liberal Studies, 2007

The first reason Young-wha Coulter chose Antioch to complete her bachelor"s degree is an honest one: "I liked the fact that we didn't have to take tests, nor did we get grades. I have high anxiety when it comes to test taking and I was always embarrassed about my G.P.A., even though it was average."

There were plenty of other reasons as well. "Once I really began researching about Antioch," Coulter says, "I learned the teaching philosophy was very close to mine. An individualized liberal arts education seemed to be too good to be true. I fell instantly in love with the B.A. completion program because of the support and understanding this program has to offer."

Now, when she recommends Antioch to others, Coulter tells them: "First, Antioch is the best education I ever had. Second, it's a lot of hard work, but it's worth it in the end. Antioch will give you a wonderful education, but also will support, show and guide you to see your inner strength as an individual."

She says there have been many faculty members who have helped her along the way.

"Each of them have cheered me on in their own way. Mary Lou Finley, my adviser, was patient and guided me with gentle pushes here and there throughout my whole process. Randy Morris, in his loving way, has taught me to look deep into myself and supported me during my growth at Antioch. He is an absolutely wonderful teacher. However, if you do take classes from him, be prepared to do deep reflection on yourself. It's extremely hard work, but Randy doesn't push you unless you want to be pushed. The B.A. completion program truly is a growing process and the whole faculty supports you in your growth," Coulter says.

In her second quarter, she took a class called Diversity, Power and Privilege, also known as Liberal Arts II. "This class, taught by Wanda Hackett, was a life-changing experience for me. This was the foundation of my experience here at Antioch. It taught me to take my blinders off and see the internalized racism I had toward my Asian community.

"I was adopted as a young child from Korea to a white American family. I hadn't realized how much I pushed my Korean heritage away and how much internalized racism I had toward other Asians until this class when I read A Different Mirror by Ronald Takaki and Privilege, Power and Difference by Allan Johnson. These two books opened up a whole new world for me, and I saw the injustice that myself and society was/is doing. Even though it has been hard at times, I can't ever go back, nor do I ever want to. I know that I am a change agent and I will do everything to help society open its eyes, take off those blinders and see what we are doing to ourselves."

Getting credit for life experience was validating for Coulter, who had been a para-educator working with elementary special education children in the Highline School District. She's also a mother and a wife and caretaker to her disabled husband.

"There is something to be said about putting your life experience on paper," she describes. "It gave me value on everything I learned prior to Antioch. I didn't even know I had that much learning experience, until I wrote it down and really looked at my life experience. Before this process, I would just blow off my prior life experience. This process put value to it. It gave my prior life meaning."

Don't ask her to put a value on her Antioch education. "I'd do it all over again," she says. "If you want a program that truly looks at you as a person, knows your name, talks with you, instead of at you, values your opinion, and you get to have an individual program that fits your needs, then the money you put into Antioch is worth it."

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Aaron Dietz
Arts & Literature
B.A. Liberal Studies, 2007

Not able to find a good job and living off his credit card, Aaron Dietz decided Antioch sounded much better than working two low-paying jobs.

He says many reasons led to his decision to attend Antioch. "I was interested in learning more about publishing and Antioch University Seattle has its own literary journal," says Dietz. Earning credit for working on a literary journal appealed to him.

He was also attracted to Antioch for giving him the opportunity to document his life experience for college credit. After working as a professional musician, web designer and writer with self-taught skills, he wanted to get credit for what he had learned.

"Antioch's style of education sounded great," Dietz says. "I had dropped out of two state colleges because of their uninspired style of teaching. Antioch had a good reputation for being able to educate self-learners and for keeping students involved in the learning process."

He credits independent study with helping him round out the gaps in his education. "I was able to create classes geared toward writing and publishing my own book, something that would have been much harder to do at a state college.

"Antioch knows that offering easy ways to construct your own independent studies is one more way for you to be sure you're getting the education you want," he notes.

What does he tell those who might be considering Antioch?

"I tell prospective students it is a classroom experience like no other. It is more expensive than a public university, but it is every bit worth it," says Dietz.

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Oliver Chadd
Human Services
B.A. Liberal Studies, 2007

There were a couple of reasons Oliver Chadd selected Antioch's B.A. completion program.

"Besides the great location," he says, "I was up for the unique method in which Antioch educates. I was always a quiet student and knew Antioch was set up in such a way I would be in situations where I could not just fade into the background."

A shift supervisor for Starbucks Coffee, Chadd isn't likely to forget his first quarter. Yet he calls it his best Antioch memory.

"My first quarter was so challenging due to a hectic combination of classes and early mornings at my job," he explains. "I did not think I could make it through another session of classes. Through dedication and determination, I made it with positive evaluations.

"From then on, I was able to look back and realize I did not have a quarter nearly as similar to that first and was able to tell myself, 'at least it was not like your first quarter.' I was able to do eight quarters straight through without breaks, each full time for 12 credits. I felt very proud of myself."

He praises his adviser Anne Harvey, core faculty in the B.A. program.

"I strive to be a role model like her," he says. "Anne Harvey was so supportive and helpful, I was so lucky to be able to turn to her for planning my journey at Antioch. I would say all faculty inspired and motivated me in some way and I appreciate the opportunity to have been in their classes."

How does he describe Antioch to friends? "I tell them what a great experience I had and that this is a school that gives you the opportunity to be yourself through expression verbally, in written form and other methods. I tell them the friendships I have made and the variety of classes," Chadd says.

Obtaining a B.A. degree was a priority for him and he calls it "a worthy debt," adding, "In the world we live in, education costs are high. The small classes and one-on-one time with instructors makes up for costs that are higher."

Chadd has no doubts about the value of his Antioch education. "I am on that pathway to start a career and I believe my education will set me in the right direction," he says.

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Tina Grant
Spiritual Studies
B.A. Liberal Studies, 2007

There was a time, Tina Gant will tell you, when she didn't see herself having any ability for college. She hadn't done well in high school and only realized she enjoyed learning when she studied for her AA degree at Seattle Central Community College.

What brought her to Antioch? "Quite honestly," she says, "as an adult learner with a learning disability, I needed a school that would allow me to learn in whatever way worked for me. I love to write, and so knowing that written expression is the basis for most work at Antioch spurred me to check into the program. Once I began the process, everyone was so enthusiastic and supportive. It was as though I had found a place where I could do my best work."

Independent study was easy for her. "I completed four independent studies and all of them were successful endeavors. I was able to take an interest I already had and turn it into a learning activity."

She says she found inspiration in Randy Morris, core faculty member in Antioch's B.A. program. "From the first class I took with Randy Morris, I knew intuitively I had found the path I was at Antioch to discover," Grant describes. "His commitment to his own lifelong learning process inspires students in their learning. His ability to create a safe, sacred space to express one's thoughts, ideas and feelings on the subject is unparalleled. Randy role models his passion for his life's work and in so doing is a catalyst for students to know they can find theirs as well."

Her best memory? "The highlight of Antioch was presenting my Senior Synthesis project. This was the culmination of all the hard work of the last four years, a distillation and a synthesis of all the different classes and experiences. The presentation was a way to show myself and the world all I had learned, all I had become, who I now was," she says.

She concedes her thinking mind struggled with the cost of an Antioch education. "With my heart/mind," Grant notes, "I have come to see that I am worth every penny I spent. After all, if I cannot give myself the gift of learning in an environment that is the most nurturing for me, how then will I ever be able to nurture others?

"Antioch is a place where you can find what it is you want to do with the rest of your life. It is not that the teachers will tell you, but that they create a space for you to explore, experiment and find what it is that fills you with passion.

"During each class, I found different ideas, worldviews and methods of interacting with my fellow sentient beings. As I integrated what I learned, how I worked in the world shifted. My success in the work world is a direct result of learning about myself."

The more you learn about the how and why of your beliefs, reactions and interactions, the more your success at work expands, according to Grant, licensor for Ryther Child Center in Seattle.

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Richard Long
Arts & Literature
B.A. Liberal Studies, 2007

Ask Richard Long what he'd say when recommending Antioch to prospective students and his response is especially thoughtful.

"This is a place where you can bring your past and, by opening your mind and your heart, turn it into your future," Long says. "The people are caring and strongly qualified, the classes are small yet intense, and the experience not only will provide you with the knowledge that is necessary, but also will change you as a human being for the rest of your life. I came here for the degree, but I leave with the degree and the desire to change our world in any positive way I can."

Before he arrived at Antioch, Long was a member of Actor's Equity Association and performed in more than 60 professional theater productions for young audiences in Louisville, KY. His dream is to teach high school theater, which he says encompasses the expression of human experiences of all types.

"The focus here at Antioch on the human condition, and our responsibilities to the world around us, have provided me with a sense of empowerment that I have never felt before," he describes. "This empowerment will certainly enable me to become a much more effective teacher, both in and out of the classroom. If I have grown as a person, then surely I have grown as an educator."

He says it was the caring atmosphere, the commitment to social justice and solid support from faculty and staff that made him choose Antioch when he, his wife Natalie and daughter Sarah moved to Seattle to be close to family in the area.

"After looking at several schools to complete my degree and gain my teaching credentials," Long notes, "I chose Antioch because of it's commitment to adult education, and it's social ideology, which has become my own as well. If the concept that a student, through study, research and relationships, obtains the basic philosophies of the institution they attend, then I am a better student, friend and person because of Antioch University Seattle."

He explains the valuable inspiration he received in Liberal Studies I with instructor Charles Morrison. "I came away with not only the foundation of what it truly means to be a liberal artist, but also an extraordinary example of the type of teacher I strive to become some day. Charles Morrison's extensive knowledge was inspiring, his firm guidance through some very difficult material was refreshing and his passion for teaching simply changed the way I look at education and learning as a whole. He became the teacher that I will never forget, and that I will always aspire to be."

His best memory?  "I will always remember a class called 'Vocal Bliss' with Deborah Shelton at the helm. She graciously inspired me and several other adult learners, to 'find our voices' through the art of song. It was the first time I have ever felt as though I took a real, calculated educational risk that paid off extensively. I experienced a new sense of freedom and confidence that I had never felt before, even after 10 years of acting onstage. The sense of community I experienced with the rest of class was remarkable, as I watched others face the same fears as I, and the effect that overcoming those fears would have on us all. It was an unforgettable experience."

Opportunities for independent study are another plus at Antioch, according to Long. "I am so pleased with the opportunity to create such a personalized learning experience, and to have the solid support and guidance that I am receiving. One of the strongest aspects of the University is its understanding of the value of individualized experience, and I am very pleased with what I have learned through the process," he says.

For those who have concerns about the cost of Antioch, Long says, "It's easy to put a price on a solid education, but the extrinsic experiences here that change you as a human being are limitless. I am sure other institutions are more affordable, but the immeasurables you experience here are well worth the small additional costs involved. Here at Antioch, you truly get what you pay for."

He suggests Antioch's Financial Aid Office has been a big help to him. "I have received financial aid at every institution I have attended, and Antioch's Financial Aid Office is by far the easiest and most supportive experience I have ever had," Long says. "The staff here have been efficient, communicative and mistake-free and I would simply not have been able to succeed without their assistance."

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Lance Wischler
Leadership & Organizational Studies
B.A. Liberal Studies, 2007

There were numerous factors that brought Lance Wischler to Antioch.

"First and foremost," he says "was the personal attention I experienced from my first phone call to the admissions department. This personal touch allowed me to feel like I mattered, and that I was not simply another number to be shuffled through the process."

Additional reasoning that played into Wischler's decision to enroll at Antioch:

• University values in line with his own
• Scheduling that fit his needs (he took care of his son weekdays from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. for 18 months)
• A unique curriculum approach in Leadership and Organizational Studies, his area of concentration
• Prior learning/credit for life experience
• Potential to take courses in Antioch's graduate programs
• Faculty expertise
• A collaborative learning environment

Prior to becoming an Antioch student, he had earned an associate of applied science degree in business from North Seattle Community College. Professionally, he had participated as a volunteer service worker for a nonprofit organization in high-profile leadership positions for nearly six years. Added to that, he had just begun a newfound journey into the world of parenting. His son Logan was born just two months before the start of fall quarter 2005.

When prospective students ask him about Antioch, Wischler says, "I ask them if they are ready to be challenged in ways they have never imagined. Then I tell them Antioch offers a truly transformational learning experience. However, I believe you get out of it what you put into it. Self-motivation is another term I mention as important to capturing the potential available from the Antioch academic experience!"

He tells anyone considering Antioch to keep in mind that Antioch's educational offering is a quality investment in yourself, what you can potentially offer employers and the community at large.

Wischler not only received financial aid but also the Dan Soloff Memorial Scholarship.

"Use all of the available resources," he recommends. "Time spent looking for scholarships is not time wasted. The financial aid process at Antioch is very straightforward, and the people who work in the financial aid office are friendly and extremely helpful. I could not have attended Antioch and finished my degree without the availability of the financial aid."

He took part in three independent studies as he worked toward his bachelor's degree.

"They were all very challenging, and extremely enriching and rewarding to my academic, as well as professional development. I was blessed to have an Antioch core faculty member (Sue Woehrlin) as my evaluator on all of my independent studies, and she was very helpful in the role as guide and mentor toward assisting my process," he says.

All core and adjunct faculty members he had contact with inspired him in one way or another, he notes, yet if Wischler had to choose one who was especially inspirational it would be Sue Woehrlin.

"Her expertise in the area of systems, and her style of teaching and mentoring impacted me profoundly," he says.

His favorite memory is the experience he gained from his participation in the Senior Symposium presentation.

"The camaraderie and support I felt with my peers as we supported one another through this pinnacle of our respective academic journeys was beyond words," he describes.

Wischler received prior learning credits (credit for life experience), which he says enriched his degree process in some key ways:

• He graduated a quarter early.
• He was able to earn credits in subjects not directly offered through Antioch.
• He designed courses that demonstrated academic learning from previous work and volunteer experience.
• He improved his writing skill and proficiency.
• He received valuable support and insight in the feedback from his prior-learning evaluator.

Pursuing his education at Antioch has led to a new career path for him: he's following his passion for helping organizations make better use of their people.

"I am currently working in organizational consulting, and this has been a goal of mine for quite some time. Antioch has helped to make this goal a reality," he says.

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Cheryl Honey
Individualized Program: Transformative Community Building and Participatory Democracy
B.A. Liberal Studies, 2006

Weaving webs of support to create caring communities won Antioch B.A. graduate Cheryl Honey of Bothell a prestigious 2007 Jefferson Award for her public and community service.

Honey created the means for people to have a voice and to leverage change through a design called Community Weaving. It all started when the mother of four organized her neighbors into a strong support network. Soon, it became a bigger neighborhood gathering at a local elementary school.

The neighbors took inventory of their strengths and assets and discovered many had faced similar life struggles: job layoffs, vandalism, parenting frustrations, health issues, alcoholism, domestic violence and more. They began to share resources with one another and formed the all-volunteer Family Support Network with Honey as community coordinator. By the end of that first year, the network had more than 300 members.

"Community Weaving created the space and conditions for people to tap their creative genius, organize with others who shared similar passions and realize their dreams in the world. This support network takes open space to the community level," Honey says. 

"It was serendipitous that I ended up going to Antioch. I didn't know what a liberal college was at the time. I do now. The Art of Learning and Social Movements course opened my eyes to the injustice in our world.

"I began understanding why there was so much resistance from systems to connect people together. I met Peggy Holman, an open space practitioner, in my large group interventions class and I had an ‘aha’ moment.

"My advisers – Mary Lou Finley, Anne Harvey and Marv Thomas – saw something in me that I didn't see in myself. I didn't grasp how to make this grow. They made me stretch into new dimensions of understanding. I learned how to trust. I didn't have that before Antioch.

"My advisers taught me I had special gifts to offer this world and I didn't have to ask for permission to make my unique contribution. That's the key that Antioch gave me to unlock my potential. 

"It has been interesting these past few months as I realize all these change masters I studied at Antioch are now my colleagues. Dick Axelrod told me at the Nexus for Change conference that whatever I'm charging it isn't enough for what I have to offer.

"Peggy Holman invited me to submit a chapter on Community Weaving and it was incorporated into the new Change Handbook (2nd edition) as a structural design change method. I now travel the country training Community Weavers how to implement Community Weaving in their communities," she says. 

Honey also offers certification training in Community Weaving in the Seattle area. Visit  www.communityweaving.org for more details.

Honey and the four other recipients of the Jefferson Award were honored at a CityClub luncheon at the Westin Hotel in early April 2007. The annual awards are sponsored by the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and Microsoft Corp. and pay tribute to those who make a difference through community service. 

Honey also has been invited to the White House to participate in the White House Compassion in Action Roundtable. She is briefing staff of Faith-Based Initiative and Corporation for Public and Community Service on how to build community capacity using the Community Weaving model.

"I'm getting closer to achieving my goal of serving as an adviser to the feds to shift the paradigm of service delivery from reliance on government to empowering people to share resources and help one another," she describes.

Honey credits Antioch for helping her find her way.  

"I wouldn't be here if Antioch hadn't galvanized all my knowledge," she says. "Antioch is the best thing that ever happened to me. It wasn't always comfortable, but it stretched my understanding of the conditions and realities of people's lives."

Note: Antioch students and alumni may sign up for free as Good Neighbors at www.familynetwork.org. Enter group ID: AUS (all caps).

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Patricia Cavit
B.A. Liberal Studies, 2005

Flexibility is what drew Patricia Cavit to Antioch's B.A. completion program.

"Antioch has the flexibility to meet the needs of adult students. The small classes and supportive atmosphere make it easy to succeed, even after many years of being out of school," says Cavit, who had been in mortgage banking before she came to Antioch.

Cavit received prior learning credits for her life experience.

"It helped shorten the time and reduce the expense of getting my degree," she says. "However, the most valuable thing I got from writing up my prior learning was the validation of my experiences. It was tremendously affirming for me to have the value of the work I had done evaluated and credited. That being said, completing this was the most difficult thing I did at Antioch!"

Independent study was among the most valuable experiences she had at Antioch. "I was able to investigate exactly the areas I was interested in and receive mentoring from the advisers who were supervising. It was an excellent experience," Cavit says.

All her credits from other institutions were accepted and she discovered Antioch didn't require certain prerequisites for her to complete her B.A.

"I was able to graduate in half the time it would have taken at a state university," she says. "I believe the overall cost was probably the same or not much more. Even if Antioch is more expensive, the small classes and supportive atmosphere make it worthwhile."

Cavit is currently working on her master's degree in social work at the University of Washington.

"My Antioch education gave me an excellent background for going into this program. Many of the ideas and the readings I am working on at the UW are the same as those I studied while in the B.A. completion program," she notes.

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Bob Hasegawa 
B.A. Liberal Studies, 2003

Bob Hasegawa was a union organizer and community activist prior to coming to Antioch. He wanted to build on those experiences in the B.A. program, so he crafted two areas of concentration, one in labor relations and another in organizational and social change.

His goal is to help nonprofits advocate for change. "I want to work with social justice-oriented nonprofits to help them address the growing demands on them by our so-called kinder/gentler society," Hasegawa said, adding, “They can do this work through direct services, but more importantly through work toward social change."

He described his studies at Antioch as a great liberal arts education. “My experience at Antioch surprised me by pushing me beyond my areas of concentration and stretching me in directions I’d never thought of going," he said.

Today, he's known as Eleventh District Democratic Representative Bob Hasegawa in the state legislature. Learn more about his work at http://www1.leg.wa.gov/house/hasegawa

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Danielle Cameron
B.A. Liberal Studies, 2002
M.A. Psychology, Art Therapy with Mental Health Counseling, 2005

When she recommends Antioch to prospective students, Danielle Cameron says, "Antioch is the school for students who are independently motivated, prefer writing papers to taking lots of tests, are willing to stretch beyond their comfort level through experiential learning and don't mind having been transformed at the end of it all."

Before she entered the B.A. completion program at Antioch, Cameron says she was struggling with numerous life issues.

"I feel I was 'led' to Antioch by virtue of numerous unrelated encounters with people who knew Antioch one way or another," she notes. "The more I learned, the more I realized this was a school most likely to help me get where I wanted to go. For one thing, I could start by finishing my B.A., then they have this amazing Art Therapy graduate program that is very appealing, not to mention the only one of its kind in Washington."

Most faculty members were an inspiration to her in one way or another.

"That is saying a lot, considering I spent more than four years at Antioch as a student, through both the B.A. and M.A. programs. To me, Antioch's faculty is smart, professional, articulate, creative, funny, flexible, student oriented and more or less '12s' on a scale of one to 10. I did experience one or two less than stellar adjunct teachers, but to Antioch's credit, after student protest, they were not invited to return to teach, and in one case was replaced before the end of the class by core faculty."

One of her best memories – and one she is ever grateful for – was a B.A. class called "Science as a Way of Seeing," which, she says, reconnected her to nature in a profound and unexpected way.

During her B.A. program, she did independent study for one quarter, too.

"I worked with Anne Harvey, doing some graphic work for a class she was teaching (Adult Development) that I was also taking. I enjoyed the whole experience, creating graphic handouts depicting four developmental theories/theorists, plus creating a three-dimensional model to present to illustrate one theory. I was able to stretch creatively, which does a lot to motivate me as a learner," she says.

Today, Cameron loves her work as a creative arts therapist for the Auburn Regional Medical Center.

She says she couldn't have attended Antioch without the help of financial aid, but she has no qualms about the cost of her Antioch education.

"It is worth it," she says.

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Carson Marshall
B.A. Liberal Studies, 2001
M.A. Whole Systems Design — Organization Systems Renewal, 2003

Before he came to Antioch, Carson Marshall had danced professionally and had better than 200 credits toward a bachelor’s degree in dance. The more he considered his options, the more he realized he wanted to pursue a master’s degree that would allow him to delve into leadership of nonprofit organizations.

He turned to the Internet and started looking for people doing the work he wanted to do. He came upon an Antioch alumnus who had precisely the kind of career he envisioned for himself. That’s when Marshall started to explore the Antioch website.

"I thought Antioch — when I first saw the name — was a Bible school," he concedes with a smile. He quickly realized the modern-day Antioch had no religious overtones.

The more he investigated, the more he realized how Antioch stood out among Washington state colleges. He decided he had found the perfect place not only to complete a bachelor's degree but also to prepare himself for just the right graduate program.

"The B.A. in Liberal Studies program supports everyone’s unique exploration. The program design is intended to do that and is structured that way," Marshall says.

With the help of a degree committee, he determined what he needed to study for a bachelor’s degree with a focus on nonprofit leadership. With design and evaluation help from business professionals with graduate degrees, he created independent studies to complement his classes.

Soon, he was taking graduate courses for undergraduate credit through Antioch’s Center for Creative Change. He focused on organizational development, strategic leadership, organizational psychology, fund-raising and development, and whole systems design. This was terrific preparation for the path he’d take as an Antioch graduate student in whole systems design. However, Marshall says individualizing his B.A. program had much greater impact than he anticipated.

"The changes in me were much more profound than I expected. I began to see who I was in the world and I started taking responsibility for my life.

"It’s elusive and hard to describe, but I realized I could create the way I want to present myself to the world. That was a big shift for me," he says.

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Mary Sherhart
B.A. Liberal Studies, 1999

Mary Sherhart chose Antioch because it offered a relevant academic experience.

"I had finished my junior year more than 10 years prior to enrolling at Antioch," she says. "Although I could have finished in one year at the University of Washington, the classes would have been distribution credits in science and history in large lecture halls with teaching assistants. Antioch offered a way to utilize my experience as a nonprofit manager and professional musician though prior learning credits and small classes with other mature students."

She earned quite a few credits for her life experience.

"Being forced to organize my prior learning in a readable form illustrated to me just how much I knew and had accomplished. This was 100 percent more valuable than taking science classes at the UW," she says.

She concedes Antioch isn't for everyone.

"It is a great place for self-motivated and well disciplined people with lots of meaty life experience under their belts. It is an intense experience," Sherhart says, "with much self-examination, interface with many strong opinions and exposure to different ways of thinking about the world."

After concentrating on arts management and ethnomusicology for her B.A., today Sherhart is a producer and teacher as well as a professional vocalist.

As with other B.A. graduates, Sherhart says independent study was a highlight of her Antioch experience.

"I was able to do master's level work in topics relevant to my work, one of which was with the chair of the UCLA Department of Ethnomusicology. The experience was extremely affirming," she describes. "The only down side to the independent studies was the challenge to keep the work focused and manageable. My natural inclination was to go too broad and deep simply because I was so curious. My adviser Sue Woehrlin helped quite a bit in this regard."

Among her best memories? "Conducting interviews with about 50 people in the music business (musicians, archivists, composer, producers) in the U.S. and Europe as part of an independent study," she says, adding that getting together with her degree committee was another.

"The degree committee process gave me more confidence about myself and my work than any other single experience in my life," Sherhart says.

"Just accomplishing a B.A. also meant a great deal to me psychologically. I went on to do a major musical production that I'm quite sure I would not have considered prior to my Antioch experience."

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Margie King Bloch
B.A. Liberal Studies, 1997
M.A. Whole Systems Design — Organization Systems Renewal, 2000

Margie King Bloch was designing curriculum for a community leadership program when she came to Antioch to complete her bachelor’s degree.

"My experience at Antioch was transformative," she explains. “Experiential education gives you the tools to begin integrating who you are with what you want to do in the world.

Her area of study in the bachelor degree completion program was transformational leadership, which then led her to an Antioch master’s degree in whole systems design with a focus on servant leadership. Today, she works in fund development for the Leadership Institute of Seattle.

"I chose Antioch because I wanted to learn more about the changing face of leadership, and I wanted to do it in an experiential educational setting."

In her first year in the B.A. program, Bloch experienced cancer for a second time. During six months of surgery, chemotherapy and radiation she says she missed only one class.

"I developed my voice as a writer and began to appreciate the gift of insight that cancer gave me. The faculty and my fellow students showed extraordinary care and support and I will always be grateful for that experience," she says.

Bloch sat on many city and organizational boards both before and after her Antioch experience. “Most of life seems to be about building the skills and capacities to work effectively with others to get things done. That's what I learned at Antioch," she says.

When she considers the benefit of liberal arts education at Antioch, Bloch describes how she developed her capacity as a systems thinker and integrated it into her philosophy of life.

To learn more about the Antioch experience, check out our Alumni & Student Stories section."I have come to believe that, deep in the human soul, we recognize how meaning resides in the nature of our relationships to self, society and the planet," she says. “It is not enough for us to know how the pieces work. The real wisdom — the meaning — lies in how they relate."

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