As a mobile support equipment operator in the Canadian Armed Forces, Windy Lafreniere already has a full-time job. She’s also a mother of three and a member of the Borden Defence Aboriginal Advisory Group. So what little spare time she does have she wanted to devote to learning — and online learning is the perfect complement to her busy schedule.

With support from Contact North, Windy, 40, registered for the McGill Personal Finance Essentials course and the Exploring Diversity & Equity eight-course series from Lambton College.

She has her sights set on becoming an officer one day, and wanted to expand her knowledge to do better at work.

“It’s been great. Contact North does check-ins to see what your progress is. It’s actually quite comforting — just checking in to see how you’re doing. And online learning is better for me because I’m able to do it on my own terms.”

She especially enjoyed exploring diversity and equity topics.

“We work with many different cultural backgrounds so that was a great course,” Windy says from her home in Borden.

“Later on I’d like to be able to be an officer so these courses may help, especially the finance course. And it’s nice to do something that’ll help me if I’m out of the military later in life.”

Windy says returning to education later in life doesn’t have to be daunting, thanks in part to the support Contact North offers.

“It’s never too late,” she says. “The technology is quite simple, even for people who don’t know computers very well. It’s quite easy to navigate through the websites.

“It’s been great. Contact North does check-ins to see what your progress is. It’s actually quite comforting — just checking in to see how you’re doing. And online learning is better for me because I’m able to do it on my own terms.”