Dawn Stremel
M.A. Education, 1988
M.A. Psychology, Child, Couple and Family Therapy, 2007
 When she describes Antioch to prospective students, Dawn Stremel tells them to expect an academically intense and challenging program that will undoubtedly be one of the more transformative experiences in their adult life.
"Future students also should expect to engage in their learning at a deeper and more intimate level than most graduate school experiences, possess an innate intellectual curiosity for their chosen field and fully embrace a self-directed model of adult learning," she says.
Stremel would know. Antioch played a key role more than 20 years ago in her first career as a successful educator. When she retired, she returned to Antioch to prepare for her retirement career as a therapist.
"Antioch fosters a collaborative adult learning community that respects older students and the unique life and career experiences they bring to their learning."
"Antioch has contributed to my career successes in many ways," she says. "My first Antioch graduate degree in Education allowed me to enjoy over 20 years as an educational leader and passionate champion for creative change in the schools. After retiring and earning a master's degree in Psychology, I have been able to craft a meaningful and intentional retirement career.
"I have easily attained my goals of creating a balanced and sustainable lifestyle by owning a small practice in my home town, volunteering for Habitat for Humanity, belonging to a spiritual community that fosters respect for diversity and social justice causes and by contributing my creative talents to the arts community of Seattle."
What drew her back to Antioch for a second degree?
"I knew Antioch valued an adult learning model of education by encouraging self-direction, fostering student autonomy and embracing a lifelong learning perspective," Stremel explains. "I also knew Antioch would require a more sophisticated and mature level of academic achievement and scholarly inquiry, and, as an older student, I required this type of academic experience."
She says she had the opportunity to pursue two different independent study experiences.
"Both allowed me the freedom to study a chosen area of interest in greater depth, as well as contract for the type of learning activities that were most meaningful to me as an adult learner. Both experiences involved attending national conferences and workshops out of state, and provided me with an important opportunity to meet and network with nationally regarded scholars and clinicians in my new field of study," Stremel describes.
She says several faculty members provided personal and professional inspiration during her studies at Antioch.
"Antioch fosters a collaborative adult learning community that respects older students and the unique life and career experiences they bring to their learning. I enjoyed being treated as a peer by both my student and my faculty colleagues. Carol Stanley (then visiting faculty in Psychology) provided exceptional clinical mentoring and supervision during my internship and now serves as an important colleague and peer in my professional community," she notes.
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