Luuk Studies Aviation Management Online in The Netherlands

By Luuk Loonen, GRC student from The Netherlands, July 17, 2020

Aviation is one of the more popular majors at Green River College. Advanced technology, exceptional instructors, and specialized Federal Aviation Administration-approved programs prepare students of every experience level with a foundation in aviation weather, air transportation, air traffic control, English and math.

I am Luuk Loonen, 21 years old, and an international student from The Netherlands. I am getting my Associate Degree in Aviation Management at Green River College and hopefully I can explain a bit more how Green River is conducting their classes.

The last few months were quite different than they were supposed to be. While COVID-19 was taking over the world, our winter quarter was almost over. At the beginning, like almost everyone, I thought it was just something that would fade away. But after the last tests of our quarter, things got real. A lot of flights were canceled and Europe announced that they were closing its borders. As an international student, there is nothing worse than being far away from family and friends, especially in times like these. I am happy Green River College recognized this and made it possible for international students to go back to their home country and take online classes.

I made the decision to fly back and work on school in the Netherlands.  I am happy I made this decision because I am pursuing my Aviation Management Associate Degree and I did not want any delay. My plan is to graduate as soon as possible, so that is why I made the decision to take 4 rather than the normal load of 3 online classes. This is because I had more time to work on my school at home.

Green River offers two different kind of classes online. Virtual and Online. Virtual means that you still need to participate in an online work environment and take the classes at designated times, while online means that you get deadlines made by the professors so you are able to make your own planning. I was lucky I still could do a lot of online classes towards my degree, so I got the opportunity to make my own planning. The classes I took were: BTAC 162,  AVIA 210, AVIA 214 and AVIA 217. You can see all teachers got the opportunity to make the online class as they wanted.

In my BTAC class our professor gave us a calendar with all the dates on it with deadlines. While my AVIA 210 put all deadlines on the end of the quarter so you could do everything by yourself, if you just finish everything in time. I liked both ways because it was easier for me to make my personal planning. This also gave me the opportunity to go back to work again, because I still had my job at the airport. Most of my planning was working on school in the morning, so I was able to work in the afternoon. And I have to say, I really enjoyed it. The assignments I had to do were mostly not that big and the if they were, you could work in advanced.

I’d really encourage everyone to take online classes (See Online Now, On Campus Later) It gives you a lot of freedom and also the opportunity to do several things beside your study. For summer quarter I am also taking 4 online classes. It will be the same as last quarter so I have the opportunity to make my own planning.

I hope everyone stays safe and hopefully this will be over soon!