Remote, but never distant

Ann Chesley (MET'18) earned her graduate degree from BU's Metropolitan College through courses she completed online. Even without entering a classroom on campus, she felt a real connection to the school, thanks to the kindness and sense of community she found there.

As it happened, her MET experience took place during what she remembers as one of the most difficult of her life, because her father had recently learned that he had pancreatic cancer. Understandably, that made it hard for Ann to focus on anything else. But, she says, doing the work for her master's degree in project management was actually a great comfort.

"My courses really helped me stay focused," she says. "And I really felt that MET was my community. That was a wonderful feeling, because it was something I hadn't experienced at my undergraduate alma mater."

Ann felt that sense of community in her online classes, and she felt so grateful to MET that she made a substantial planned gift to the college.

"It's such a wonderful institution," she says, "and I am happy to think that other students will be able to benefit, too."

That warm feeling has continued even now, when Ann is living with her mother in Ohio and therefore has had few opportunities to return to Boston. She did visit in the winter of 2020, when MET Dean Tanya Zlateva had a chance to thank her for her generous gift. And she continues to feel a connection to MET wherever her travels and her career take her, most recently to a remote position as senior project controls specialist with Los Alamos National Laboratory.

Ann's connections to BU as a whole stay strong as well. She has joined the advisory board for the University's project management programs; she's also planning to obtain a graduate certificate in project portfolio management from MET next year–just one more way that the college will help her keep sharpening her skills.

"I had a great experience at MET," Ann says. "I'm grateful that I'm able to give back."