19 May 1999 Home Study Suits Busy Young Lifestyle and the Pocket

Blenheim's Matt Ealand is the first Lincoln University Regional Education student to study fulltime while living away from the campus.

Although residing 350 kilometres from the University, Matt has almost daily contact with Lincoln through a freephone conference network.

By using the Regional Education programme to take papers towards his Bachelor of Commerce and Management degree, Matt has been able to keep living costs low. Instead of paying for accommodation on campus he does fulltime university study at home, paying a substantially smaller amount of board.

"That means I still have money to do the other things I enjoy in life – meeting friends, going to the gym, wake boarding, snowboarding and driving my car," he says.

A past pupil of Marlborough Boys' College, Matt has set up a study base at home.

"We have encouraged Matt to wrap his university study into his lifestyle," says mother Sharon.

"Not only is he busy and on the go but we are thrilled to have been around and involved as he has gone through the process of sharpening his career focus," says his father John, a local real estate agent.

Matt is doing four university subjects from his own home study in Blenheim – Finance, Economics, Law, and Food and Health.

"Studying fulltime with Regional Education suits me really well," says Matt. "I enjoy the one-to-one contact with Lincoln's Learning Coordinators who have gone out of their way to help me.

"Garth Weaver, the Finance Learning Coordinator, has always been available at the end of the freephone when the going has got tough and he has answered any questions I have had about Finance. He has really gone well beyond whatever I expected. And that's just to name one of my Learning Coordinators – they all do a great job."

Matt says that through it all he has increased his self-discipline, which should help him in all areas of his life.

"I can heartily recommend this form of university study. It's great. The steps to success are very clear from the outset."

In July, from the start of Semester Two, Matt will further his study fulltime on campus at Lincoln University. He is now sure of his career focus in advertising. He plans to major in Marketing and Business Management for his degree and is already excited about work placement opportunities in the near future.

Ian Collins, Journalist, Lincoln University, Canterbury, New Zealand