Distinguished Alumni Award
Audrey-Lynn Karperien is the recipient of the 2002 Distinguished Alumni Award. She graduated in 1998 with a Bachelor of General Studies with great distinction and although her numerous scholarships and appearances on the honour’s list would suggest otherwise, Audrey didn’t devote all her energies to her studies.
She has been an active community volunteer, she was a regular contributor to AUSU’s The Voice, and during the past six years she and her military husband and their four children have moved four times (once overseas, and as of December 2002, to the middle of the Mojave Desert). Audrey has co-authored a paper on cancer and nutrition, she assisted in the conduct of a Manitoba-wide physicians survey, and she collaborated on a poster that was presented at an international nutrition conference. She is presently undertaking a Master’s program in Neuroscience from the Charles Sturt University in Australia.
Audrey has words of praise for Athabasca University: “I know that without the excellent staff and needed flexibility at AU, I would not have finished the degree, probably would not have finished more than a course of two. In fact, I’d say that if not for AU, my life would be drastically bleak right now.”
“: I worked so hard, put so much into my studies, and each time life dealt yet another incredible, amazing, unbelievable blow, AU took me through it and I was able to go on. I think the staff at AU are brilliant at academia and life, and I continue to tell everyone I can draw into education-related conversations all about AU and what distance ed has to offer.”
The Distinguished Alumni Award is presented annually to an Athabasca University graduate who is selected based on evidence of outstanding contributions in any field of human endeavour; extraordinary contributions to their community or to society; or a combination of achievements in the above areas.
Contributed by The Insider
