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.
Those who say that nobody uses the public library anymore annoy those of us who do. Contrary to persistent laments on the imminent demise of libraries, Canada’s 22,000 library branches are alive and well—and thriving. Libraries, like other public institutions, have had to change to serve the public’s shifting needs, but they continue to be… Read more »
Last week’s article introduced Mensa Canada, the high IQ society. This week, we look at Mensa from the AU student’s perspective. What’s in it for us? For those who qualify, Mensa provides a rewarding social network that extends beyond Canada’s borders. People with Mensa-qualifying IQ?an IQ that falls in the top 2% of the general… Read more »
At a Mensa event, you could be rubbing shoulders with an archaeologist, a Hollywood screenwriter, or an international spy. Mensa, the high IQ society, attracts such a diverse range of people from every walk of life, you can join and give up reading novels for excitement. You meet “the most amazing people with amazing experiences,”… Read more »
When Athabasca University (@AthabascaU) tweeted on September 2, “Many of you have been back to school for a few hours now…how’s it going?” I was tempted to reply, “It’s going great! I’m taking the day off.” My latest AU course started September 1, but I didn’t. While the majority of Canadian university students trundled off… Read more »
You’ve got your AU course materials. You’ve got a plan. Now if you could just teleport everyone else off your planet, you could get some studying done! Your roommate is gabbing on the phone; your kids are fighting?again?over who started it; your spouse has decided that now is a good time to talk about household… Read more »
Online education brings both exhilarating freedom and sobering responsibility. On one hand, You’re the master of your time. You can study when you want, if you want. You can work on your courses over early morning coffee, during your lunch break at work, or late at night after the kiddies are in bed. There’s no… Read more »
On August 23, UNESCO marks the sombre “International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition.” The Slave Trade referred to in UNESCO’s proclamation is the so-called Atlantic slave trade, in which more than 12 million men, women, and children were wrenched from their homes in Africa to toil in the fields… Read more »
Good news for all you hardworking students: today is “National Relaxation Day!” I don’t know who designated August 15 as a day of relaxation, but I’m not going to argue. I found NRD on two websites* so it must be true. Too often we view the act of relaxation as that ideal state we’ll arrive… Read more »
Are you new to AU? You might be waiting for your first course to begin or perhaps you’ve taken a few and are ready to immerse yourself in a program. With many courses ahead of you and years of study, It’s sometimes overwhelming to decide where to begin. If you’ve never taken university courses before,… Read more »
The signs are everywhere. It’s getting harder to ignore. Summer is half over. August has begun, the birds are preparing for their fall migration, and the stores are bulging with back-to-school supplies. The deadline to register for AU courses for September is only days away. Are you ready? It’s time to put down the daiquiri,… Read more »