Barbara Lehtiniemi is a writer and photographer from Ontario. She’s a graduate of Athabasca University, having completed her Bachelor of General Studies degree in 2018.
A regular contributor to The Voice Magazine since 2013, Barbara has also contributed to other publications including Chicken Soup for the Soul and Maclean’s. Barbara writes in several genres, including non-fiction, fiction, and poetry. She’s grateful to The Voice Magazine for providing the opportunity to explore an array of topics and writing styles, and she remains dreadfully sorry for those awful haikus.
Barbara has a fondness for travel, used bookstores, everyday absurdities, and oversized wine glasses. Originally from urban Southwestern Ontario, she now lives on a windswept rural road in Eastern Ontario with her indulgent and supportive husband, Leo.
You can follow Barbara on Twitter @theregoesbarb, or contact her at theregoesbarb@gmail.com.
Time is running out! AUSU’s Annual General Meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, April 21, at 5:30 MST. Have you registered yet? If not, drop everything?yes, even this magazine?and e-mail ausu@ausu.org to register. Make sure your voice is heard. AUSU’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) is your opportunity to hear what student council has been doing on… Read more »
In a puzzling move last week, AUSU Student Council announced it would seek to replace The Voice Magazine with a “Writer in Residence.” Without notice and with minimal fanfare, AUSU placed an upcoming event listing on its website, and on the AUSU Update page in April 3rd’s The Voice, for the seemingly hastily-organized 2015 Annual… Read more »
Are you enjoying your long weekend so far? Me? Not so much. Long weekends, for me, are a thing of the past. In the transition from employed to self-employed, I seem to have lost the long weekend. When I worked at a regular 40-hour per week job, weekends were part of the framework of life…. Read more »
When Woody Allen said “80 percent of success in life is just showing up,” he was not referring to exams. Yes, showing up is critically important?think of the alternative?but what’s going to make the biggest impact on your exam success is your preparation. Studying, although of paramount importance, is only part of preparation. There is… Read more »
Have you visited Lynda yet? Lynda.com is the online software training company that is currently free for AUSU members. AU’s Student Union has arranged for free one-year access for AU undergraduate students, but time is running out. We first looked at lynda.com in this February 7, 2014 article in The Voice Magazine. If you didn’t… Read more »
Athabasca University is not closing and your credits are safe. Aren’t you glad The Voice Magazine‘s writers attend AUSU’s monthly council meetings to bring you news you need in a timely basis? Sitting in on meetings listening to discussions on policy is sometimes?dare I say it?boring. Judging from the number of other student observers who… Read more »
“AU Press operates on the model of a knowledge-based economy, to which we contribute by providing peer-reviewed publications unfettered by the desire to commodify thought or to restrict access to ideas.” Did you know that AU Press is so dedicated to sharing knowledge that it offers free online access to all its publications? That’s right,… Read more »
With Athabasca University’s reputation as the premier online university, it’s surprising that they’re just now joining, or possibly re-joining, the MOOC movement. MOOCs, so-called Massive Open Online Courses, seem to be offered by every university and its frater these days. AU will launch its first purpose-designed MOOC, Learning to Learn Online on March 9. MOOCs… Read more »
A friend died this morning. A kind-hearted woman with a positive outlook and the love of her family. Her only flaw was the insidious tumour in her brain that could not and would not be defeated. I’ll miss her joie de vivre and her ready smile. I feel a deep sense of personal loss. I… Read more »
It may seem a contradiction but, while I prefer paper over e-texts, I prefer online over paper exams. When I clicked the “submit” button on my latest exam, I felt satisfied. Not only was another exam out of the way and another course completed, but I didn’t have to pop a painkiller to ease my… Read more »