Online Life

Linzy Hoffmann, the 5-year-old daughter of GCU online student Jessica Smith, is struggling with a rare disease and is given little chance of surviving the medical challenges ahead of her. So when the family recently had their Christmas lights and decorations stolen, the Phoenix Police Department came to the rescue to save a big part of their Christmas.

GCU News Bureau Senior Writer Michael Ferraresi is also a first-time online student at GCU. He shares his experiences being part of the online classroom as he juggles work, family, classes and bad posture.

Shica Little has done a lot of things in her life, including an appearance in a national TV commercial and competing on a televised cooking show. But her meeting with President Obama is what she considers “my bragging rights.”

Melanie Glaze, who earned a master’s degree from GCU in 2009, went from cleaning offices to a career in nursing and even persuaded her mother, then in her late 40s, to pursue her dream of becoming a nurse.

There are enthusiastic graduates from GCU — and then there is Marian Barry. The College of Nursing grad took commencement ceremonies to a whole new level on a blistering, 112-degree day in Mesa, accepting her master’s degree in an unusual way.

By Doug Carroll GCU News Bureau Forger, thief, prostitute, drug addict and now … GCU online student. “God can do anything,” says LaTwan Gibbs, who is on track against all odds to graduate in 2014 with a bachelor’s degree in counseling that would make her the first in her family to graduate from college. A conversation with Gibbs, 40, who lives in the town of Center, Texas, less than 20 miles from the Louisiana border, provides ample material for a book or made-for-TV movie. Three stints in the state penitentiary and dozens of trips to jail. At least six tries at drug rehab. In short, a series of serious problems. “I was a beast,” she says, and the unsavory details of a 13-year stretch of her life do little to dispel the notion. “There’s nothing I didn’t do.” The trouble began in August of 1995, when she witnessed the fatal shooting of her husband, a drug dealer. That began a swift downward spiral, which saw her habit reach $3,000 a day and her actions do anything to support it. She says she was run over twice and had guns pulled on her, acknowledging that she “should have been dead a long […]

David Everett has fond memories of the 1974-75 NAIA national championship team, and he’s just as excited about what lies ahead for his alma mater. He’s pursuing a doctorate in organizational leadership with a K-12 emphasis.

With flames from the Waldo Canyon Fire in Colorado rushing down a nearby mountain and pre-evacuation plans seemingly imminent, GCU instructor Michelle Post leaned on her faith to get through a difficult week.

Carrie Thouvenot was diagnosed with Primary Biliary Cirrhosis – a chronic autoimmune disease in which the body’s immune cells attack the bile ducts of the liver – at about the same time that she decided to take online classes at GCU. She drew inspiration to complete her studies from her 6-year-old daughter, who was adopted from China.

Last Friday afternoon’s graduation ceremonies at GCU Arena included the Colleges of Education and Doctoral Studies.