Student Spotlight: Kimberly Rudge-Karic, B.S. Natural Sciences

A non-traditional student returning to school, Kimberly Rudge-Karic decided that if she was ever going to continue being enthusiastic and passionate about her career in science, she would need to buckle down and finish her degree.

Originally from San Diego, Kim moved to Alaska in 1978 because she wanted an outdoor job. She started working as a road surveyor for the forest service in Sitka until the Alaska Department of Fish and Game (ADF&G) caught wind of her talent and passion for the outdoors and hired her. Kim worked as a Technician III, conducting deer scat surveys along logging clear-cut boundaries.

Since then, Kim has worked more than 30 consecutive seasons with ADF, supervised two salmon research projects and occasionally lived alone in remote field camps. She now works as a Fish Tech III during the summer months.

"Initially I decided to enroll at the University of Alaska Fairbanks to take some science and engineering classes to help further my understanding of the kind of work I was doing," said Kim. "But I couldn't hack the cold winters in Fairbanks."

Eventually Kim moved to Kodiak to participate in various crab, shrimp, herring and salmon Fish & Game projects. "Working in an environment in the name of nature, rather than a commercial fisher or fish processing plant worker, gives you an entirely new perspective."

Though happy and feeling accomplished up to this point in her life, Kim still felt that something was missing. Looking long-term, she always saw herself advancing within ADF&G or obtaining a job in the private sector, but she also knew in order to do that she would have to go back to school.

Having lived in Juneau, Fairbanks, Kodiak, Anchorage and on the Kenai Peninsula, she now commutes between her home in Kasilof and Australia, where her husband is from. Because of her frequent travel plans, Kim needed a flexible education, so she started taking online courses through UAA to reach her goal of finishing her degree.

Though Kim enjoys her life of as an international traveler, she explains that being a student abroad is more difficult than she ever imagined. "You have to be really self-motivated to take an online course, even more so if all your courses are online," she said.

"The most difficult thing I have been faced with is finding and using international resources, and then referencing these sources using the British system." She also explained the challenge of the time-zone difference and said that sometimes the classes she needs to take are not always offered online.

"A humorous aspect of taking online classes is that I've 'attended' classes in various Internet cafes, libraries and hotel rooms while traveling between the two countries," she said.

Taking courses online can be challenging, but also very engaging and rewarding. "The eLive classes are absolutely wonderful," Kim said. "They bring the classroom into your home, while still creating an engaging environment for the students. You can actually electronically raise your arm to answer a question and the teacher will call on you."

Kim, now a senior, has pinched pennies for years and has saved enough money so that she never had to take out any loans for her college education. She is looking forward to finishing her Bachelor of Science in Natural Sciences degree within the next academic year, debt-free.

"Over time I've been able to discover myself, and UAA has really helped in that process," she said. "In fact, UAA has shown me that though something may be difficult, it can still be accomplished."

After she earns her diploma, Kim plans to apply for a job in Antarctica that would allow her to study the environment and how things adapt to life on the southernmost continent.

This world traveler has proven to herself that her determination and drive can take her places that she never imagined. "The only advice I could give a young person," she said, "would be to take risks in education--you will never lose."