Born and raised in Rwanda, St. John’s Graduate Online Learning
alum Eugenie Murekatete ’08G feels that the Master of Arts in
Global Development and Social Justice was the perfect program to
pursue, “Through this program I was able to interact with students
from all around the world. We started a unique friendship that I
value as a very good asset and believe will continue beyond
graduation.” Through the use of the conferencing tool Skype,
Online Learning students from all around the world are able to
maintain communication with each other for group projects or
support at any time of the day.
While she attended graduate school, Eugenie also worked for
UNICEF in the Office of Emergency Programs and believes since she
attained her graduate degree she will have the skills and knowledge
to make even more of a difference in the lives of children around
the world, “Upon graduation, I plan to continue working for UNICEF,
applying the knowledge I’ve acquired to work towards global
development and social justice.”
Getting to this point in life has not been easy for Eugenie -
she is a widow and survivor of the 1994 Rwanda Civil War: “The war
in Rwanda destroyed my family life; with my husband and several
family members being killed within a short period of time. In
addition to the loss of loved ones, most of my family’s properties
were destroyed or looted. It was an extremely traumatizing
experience. Once I came to America I had to begin my life from
scratch.”
Although it was challenging at times, Eugenie remained
determined to finish school and attain her graduate degree, “The
program is very demanding in terms of time and intellectual
skills. I had to reorganize my time for a better
accomplishment of my studies.” Her best advice to students
considering online education is to make sure they have exceptional
time management skills, “Since the program is not the traditional
graduate program where students meet in a classroom, students
should make sure they access the web site at least once a day and
maintain communication with their professors and classmates.”