[Interviewer] Welcome to the University of North Georgia Political Science & International
Affairs Department's YouTube channel, where we present interviews with our students, past,
present, and future to highlight their accomplishments and particularly, their insights.
In the coming minutes, you'll get to know one of our most recent graduates, Heather Keith. As
you'll soon find out, Heather is a pioneer of sorts with our department, as she accomplished
something none of the hundreds of PSIA students before her have ever done. I'll let her tell you
about it herself. But first, let's meet Heather.
Good afternoon Heather.
[Heather] Good afternoon.
[Interviewer] To start us off, please tell us a little bit about yourself. Who is Heather Keith?
[Heather] Well, Heather Keith graduated from high school in 2003. So, I'm roughly, of looking at
it, almost my 20-year reunion. I am a mother of three children. I'm a wife of 16 years. And I am
a full-time family law paralegal that consumes the majority of my time in between being a
mother and a wife. And I'm a full-time student.
[Interviewer] What got you into the world of politics? Why did you choose, I guess, to pursue a
political science degree? And perhaps more importantly, why here at UNG?
[Heather] I chose to go into political science after I got my Associate's degree with UNG in
sociology. I decided that I enjoyed politics a lot. I enjoyed government, learning how
government functions, how it works, the ins and outs of government and politics, and
everything that we don't get to experience when we're just looking at the media and news. And
I wanted to pursue that further.
I also really enjoy discussions with people and learning their perspectives and learning their
viewpoints and why they look at things that way. I love a good healthy discussion, I love a good
healthy debate and I felt like this was the avenue for me.
And I certainly didn't have any other college in mind when it came to it. University of North
Georgia was the college that I wanted to go to. It was not only convenient in everything that
they offered, including location for when I wanted to be on campus to enjoy some of the
amenities that come with my student...ship I guess. I didn't have any other college in mind. It
was convenient. It was everything that I needed in a program being a full-time mother, wife,
and employee. So I didn't have any questions about UNG being the school that I wanted to be
at.
[Interviewer] Why did I introduce you, a couple of minutes ago, as a pioneer of sorts in our
department?
[Heather] Getting to do this program completely and fully online. I would like to think is the
reason why that I am officially a pioneer and not my age. I'm going to safely assume that it has
everything to do with the fact that I have been able to enjoy this complete program at a
distance, and that's something that we haven't been able to experience. I didn't even get to
experience that in my Associate's degree. I was on campus for that. And so, I think that would
be the best way to describe me as a pioneer.
[Interviewer] You've probably alluded to it a little bit ago when you introduced yourself but --
Why did you choose the fully-online Bachelor of Science Program?
[Heather] I needed a program that worked with me. It allowed me to always be a mother first;
to be a wife first; to be involved in my job. Being in the family law industry ... It's a very
demanding and time-consuming job, and it often takes away from my free time; from my family
time. And I needed something that was going to allow me to still be involved with my family, to
still be involved with my job, and wouldn't take away from my, from all the things that I needed
to be "first". So, I could succeed as a student without having to put that as the main focal point
of my life.
[Interviewer] How was it really? How did that all work out for you? Both good and bad.
[Heather] Oh gosh, it has worked for me in so many great ways. Some negative. Not, it's not
always been the easiest route. Certainly being online there is, I felt like a more demand to teach
discipline, to teach self-control. It really shows you how to, to devote, and time manage being
an online student, and that's always been extremely difficult as far as being an online student.
But I think when it comes down to it, everything that it has allowed as far as the time that I can
devote to it; as far as when I could devote to it.
It has been great and pivotal for me in my career. There's never been a time that being a
student has affected me negatively in my life and as a mom, as an employee. And so, I think the
program has allowed me to really have a lot of flexibility and to have the opportunity to still
provide for my family.
I've never, I've never been able to do both. I always either had to choose to be a student or an
employee first. And this allowed me to do both.
And I think that's pivotal when it comes to having a program that allowed that.
[Interviewer] Heather, an integral part of our political science major, and the entire program, is
an internship. Can you tell us a little bit about your experiences?
[Heather] Yes. So I did participate in the internship program. I actually received for that
program -- in another semester. And I think that's huge. That was a great benefit to me. Not
only did it allow for me to have the opportunity to use real-life experience and gain credit
hours, which took away from having to take additional classes. That course itself was offered
online. And so any work that I had to do with the internship as far as part of the coursework, it
was all able, I was able to do all of that online. And the program was really flexible with me.
And UNG was extremely flexible with me, with the fact that I already had a career. I was already
part of a program and working somewhere and so they were allowing me to gain my
experience working as a paralegal and use that for my benefit in my coursework. And so they
were taking that as my opportunity to do the internship as well, and I am so thankful for that.
In addition to the fact of it made me hyper-aware of what I was doing in the real world and
what I was doing in my job. And so it made me more aware of my activities as an employee
which I think benefitted me.
[Interviewer] Now that you've graduated, how do you anticipate, or do you see your experience
with the Political Science Department and your Bachelor of Science in Political Science degree
working for you within your career as you, as you continue to move forward?
[Heather] I absolutely see a benefit to my political science degree working for me when it
comes to my job. A, a lot of just having a degree, a lot of seeking a degree and the commitment
that it takes, especially to doing it online, has made me a better employee. It has made me a
better mother. It has made me aware of things in the world that, that I not only can provide
insight to in my job, but it also allows me to provide insight to my children as they learn these
things.
So having the political science behind me, a lot of that program required me to understand the
legal field, to understand how the court system works, and things such as jurisdiction and
venue is pivotal in my job. And I think it was super beneficial to me knowing that I now can
contribute more in my career than I thought was possible, even though I'm not pursuing
something directly related to politics.
[Interviewer] In closing. One last question. What do you have to say to our viewers ...
particularly prospective UNG students ... whether they're contemplating the online program as
you just completed or the on-campus experience?
[Heather] I would definitely recommend the University of North Georgia. When it came to
North Georgia and all the campuses that they provide, all of the opportunities that they have ...
When you're an online student you can do everything fully online, but you're not prevented
from being on campus. And it's, I think that's really important that you get to have a little bit of
that experience or even just that opportunity, whether you decide to engage in it or not. It
allows for you to have access to the resources that all the students get to have. Just because I
wasn't on campus, I was still able to access certain programs and certain resources that all the
students are able to have.
Having been an on-campus student and an online student later on, has been remarkable for
me. Because I know that there's so much to gain from both. And I know that both of them have
a lot ... I know that both of them have a lot of benefits and positivity to them.
The faculty's super supportive in both ways, and make themselves available to every student
regardless of if you're on-campus or online.
And so I definitely think that ... trying to think ... I definitely think the University of North
Georgia allowing for students to choose to be on campus or online is super beneficial.
And I think that it allows for students who experience things in life or who may have life events
that prevent them from being on campus, a greater opportunity to finish their degree because
they're able to even switch over if they need to eventually the next semester if for whatever
reason on-campus isn't working for them or vice-versa, if they find that online didn't work for
them. I think it's great that the University of Georgia doesn't keep a student boxed into one
shell and that it fits everybody and every aspect of their life.
[Interviewer] Okay. Well, thank you for your time, Heather. I wish you all the best as you move
forward in your career and continue to #experiencemore with your help of your experiences
with us here in the Political Science & International Affairs Department.
[Heather] Thank you.