人们远离在线高等教育的一个主要原因是害怕觉得自己是一个数字，或者与校园、教授或同龄人没有联系。 This is not the case for Scott Foens, a current student in the University of Nebraska at Kearney’s online 历史 M.A. program.

福恩斯是一名美国空军老兵，目前在爱荷华州锡达拉皮兹市工作，负责监督土地管理系统。 His undergraduate was in history and his passion for writing history were only a few reasons Foens chose 太阳城娱乐官网’s online 历史 M.A. program.   

“It's certainly less expensive, even as an out-of-state student to go to 太阳城娱乐官网 than it was to go to Memphis,” Foens said regarding his decision where to study. “But the other piece to it really was the faculty is outstanding there at 太阳城娱乐官网, and they had the experience that I knew I could tap into that would allow me to kind of get where I wanted to be as far as being able to write and improve my storytelling.”  

Although Foens is an online student, he made the trek across the Iowa/Nebraska boarder to attend the induction ceremony for 太阳城娱乐官网’s Veteran’s National Honor Society. 

“That was really kind of my first exposure to physically being at campus, which is one of the things that I would say offers a little bit of a tie because now I can say, ‘Yeah, I've actually been there,’” Foens said. 

由于所有在线学生都不可能前往校园，因此太阳城娱乐官网努力在校园周围直播许多学生活动，包括返校游行，福恩斯能够在爱荷华州的家中享受。

太阳城娱乐官网 continues to advocate for online and graduate students through livestreaming student events and speakers, and through the creation of 太阳城娱乐官网’s new student organization, 太阳城娱乐官网研究生协会. 

“I feel kind of this connection to 太阳城娱乐官网,” Foens said. “Obviously, because I'm a student, but it gives you the opportunity to feel like you're really a part of the student body. 当你在做远程教育的时候，你在很远的地方，我不管你是在爱荷华州还是佛罗里达州，有时候你没有那种联系。 But seeing those kinds of things allows you to really connect and say, ‘Yeah, this is really my school.’”

除此之外，福恩斯还前往爱荷华州杰斐逊城的林肯大学为洛珀橄榄球队加油。 他特别强调自己不穿任何Loper的装备，因为他担心主队的观众看到客队的人坐在他们共用的看台上，会感到不高兴。   

“Lo and behold, I discovered there seemed to be more 太阳城娱乐官网 people there than there were from Lincoln University,” Foens said with a laugh. “To this day, I remember coming over the hill, seeing this blue flag in the parking lot and thinking, ‘Who is that?’ It was a whole crowd of 太阳城娱乐官网 people that were there. It was fantastic to see the see the football team play.”