The day William Dennler turned 16, he quit high school. He was bored, needed a job, and felt that education was unimportant. Today, a few life experiences later, Dennler has just completed his Bachelor of General Studies. He says that learning is his great love, his means of achieving his calling in life.
Even as he quit high school, Dennler believed he would one day return to school. While living in California in 1972, he did return, attending a community college in Los Angeles that allowed him to enroll on a probationary basis without having completed high school. After five years as a part-time student, he earned an associate degree.
Around the same time, Dennler embarked on a 30-year career in the transportation industry. Over the years, he has held positions ranging from dispatcher to vice president, and has been transferred from state to state. Currently, he is a planner in the operations department of a trucking company in Tennessee. He's very active in his church; loves travel, music, movies, and reading; raises money for the American Cancer Society; volunteers for the Disaster Service of the American Red Cross; and studies theology and Christian spirituality.
In short, Dennler is a successful, happy man. Well, except for one thing.
"About eight years ago," Dennler explains, "I began to experience a sense of being called to ordained ministry in the Episcopal Church. As time progressed, it became clear that this might be something that could become a reality in life. I knew one thing for sure, that in order to attend seminary, I would have to complete a bachelor's degree."
The problem was that Dennler was working 60 hours a week. "Going back to school and taking night classes in a conventional way would never have worked," he says. "I began to search the Internet for the means to get my bachelor's degree in a less-than-conventional way. There were multitudes of so-called degree programs. When I saw that Indiana University offered a program, I wondered, 'Could this be the Indiana University ?' It was, and I became very excited that I would be able to earn a degree. . . . The flexibility of the General Studies Degree Program was crucial to my ability to commit myself to this program."
Dennler became a general studies student toward the end of 2000. He was able to transfer the credit hours from his associate degree and received 30 self-acquired competency credits after completing "a tremendous amount of work" on a life experiences portfolio. He fulfilled the remainder of his requirements through course work. "I have to admit there were times when I had to back off my studies in order to meet other responsibilities in my life," says Dennler, "but I was able to stay with it - sometimes quickly and sometimes slowly."
In order to stay on track, Dennler set aside specific times for study and stuck to the schedule, even when he returned home from work, exhausted. His instructors, he says, were extremely helpful. "Often, I had the sense that it was just me and the instructor, and I missed out on the dialog created in a classroom setting. Nonetheless, anytime I asked questions of my instructors, either by e-mail or on the lessons I submitted, I always received a quick response."
Dennler plans to use his degree to begin seminary in September 2005. He will pursue a master's of divinity or a master's in theology. "Of all my life's activities," he says, "if I were to choose what I enjoy most, it would be learning, learning theology and spirituality."
As he reflects on his educational experience with Indiana University, Dennler says, "It took a lot of self-motivation to complete this degree. Having done that created a tremendous sense of fulfillment. Indiana University and the School of Continuing Studies played a crucial role in my achieving something that I never would have thought possible. I am grateful that in my search to begin such a program, I found Indiana University. It was a wonderful learning experience, and I will continue to recommend this program to anyone who is interested in completing a degree."
