In 1992, the same year the Crimson Tide won its 12th national football title, Aundrea Self Nichols was a college student in Tuscaloosa, double-majoring in English and mass communications at Stillman College. In her roles as Miss Stillman and an Alpha Kappa Alpha soror, Aundrea was familiar with The University of Alabama’s campus life and had plans to earn a degree from the University herself.
“My initial plan was to go straight to UA to earn a master’s after I graduated,” she said. Her undergraduate internship at a local radio station provided other opportunities, though. She had become “part of the family” and was even a regular personality on the station. “When the program director offered me a full-time job after graduation, I put grad school on the back burner.”
After seven years in radio and nearly two decades as a news anchor in Columbus, Mississippi, thoughts of earning a master’s degree resurfaced. “I was working with college interns at the station and I began to see how they could benefit from instructors with practical, feet-on-the-ground newsroom experience,” Aundrea explained.
Realizing what a resource she could be to aspiring journalists, she began investigating a master’s she could earn while balancing her career and family. That’s when she found UA Online and the 100% online master’s in Journalism. “Lo and behold, my original plan to go to The University of Alabama for my master’s presented itself!”
Enrolling in the program at UA presented a couple of obstacles. Since it had been over 20 years since college, she was nervous about taking the GRE to apply. She was also unsure how an online experience could equate to master’s level education. “When I graduated from college, I didn’t even have an email address. So I was sort of in disbelief, like, You’re telling me I’m going to be able to obtain a master’s degree from one of the best journalism schools in the country – really highly regarded in the field – and I don’t even have to step foot on campus if I don’t want to?” She did step foot on campus, though. After she mustered up the courage to take that GRE (no longer required for program admission) and had been admitted to the program, she asked all of her questions in a face-to-face meeting with Dr. Chris Roberts.
“Dr. Roberts was kind and gracious enough to host me for a visit. I sat in his office, and we mapped out a plan that would work for me as a full-time news anchor, wife, and mom to a then-second grader.” During her visit, she also got a chance to tour the “phenomenal” facilities that UA College of Communication and Information Sciences’ main campus students train in. “That day was sort of the beginning of my journey, and I left feeling excited, like I could really do this. Dr. Roberts let me know that he and the rest of the professors I would encounter would be a very tangible support system for me. And that has proven to be exactly the case.”
“Every single professor I had has been accessible to me by phone, email, Blackboard – even FaceTime,” Aundrea said. Her fellow students also supported her through discussion boards, phone calls and synchronous online sessions. “Being so far away from the University, I didn’t expect it, but I have felt very connected to campus – much more than I thought I would – and have been able to form real relationships with my classmates.”
In addition to anchoring for WCBI-TV, Aundrea also hosts a daytime talk show in Columbus. When the Mississippi State women’s basketball team made it to the Final Four in Dallas, the show went on the road to cover the fan experience. Aundrea’s husband and daughter went with her, and she remembers that every moment she wasn’t producing content for the show, she was able to work on schoolwork, thanks to the online format. “In the hotel, a restaurant or in the backseat of the car, even in the press room during downtime, I was writing papers and working on discussion boards.”
Hard work pays off, and Aundrea’s already has. For Spring 2020, she has been teaching at Mississippi State University. “They called me in December to ask if I was interested in a teaching position. They weighed my career experience along with the fact that I graduate in May, and I’ve been teaching broadcast performance!”
She enjoys teaching, but recognizes that this semester has been the heaviest one yet. “From January until now, I’ve been a full-time anchor/reporter/producer, a student at The University of Alabama and instructor at Mississippi State University – and now I’m a homeschool mom to my daughter, who is social distancing, of course!” Aundrea added, “It’s been a whirlwind, but it has taught me what I am capable of doing. I had to dig deep at times to find what I needed, and it has not been a breeze, but I have been able to do what I needed to do in every single part of my life. And, you know, and I’m still sane!”
While UA Spring 2020 commencement ceremonies have been postponed, Aundrea plans to walk the graduation stage whenever it is rescheduled and celebrate her accomplishment, and not just for herself. “I really need my daughter to see that completion, that tangible look at the joy at the end of this road. Because she’s seen the sacrifices – some of them are even her sacrifices – so I really want her to see the joy of this journey.” And she wants to be able to celebrate the milestone with her husband who she says has been a rock during this process.
“It’s a nontraditional way to obtain a degree, and I was also a nontraditional student – 20 years removed from a college education. So whatever your age or situation, don’t let fear stop you. Fear can be motivating or it can be stifling, but if you can find someone or something to inspire you, you will amaze yourself at what you can actually accomplish.”
Published: August 31st, 2020