Northcentral University

DR. HARI DHUNGANA PhD in Education (2015) School of Education CHANGED MY LIFE One-to-One Professors... 31 Lifelong learner Dr. Hari Dhungana had already attained a significant level of education when he decided to work toward his PhD in Education at Northcentral University. What he couldn't foresee were the challenges and obstacles that life would put in his path. A severe car accident, the birth of grandchildren and the departure of his department chair led Dhungana to a difficult decision of whether to withdraw from his PhD program. He also couldn't foresee that caring NCU professors would help change his life. Having planned a recuperative trip to his native Nepal, he wrote to the University with his decision to drop from his program. While at an internet café in Kathmandu a month later, he found numerous encouraging emails from his NCU advisor and his new chair, imploring him not to drop and to allow them to help him see his program through to completion. "NCU offers a supportive staff, professors and advisors. My dissertation chair was wonderful." Impressed, and with renewed energy and optimism, Dhungana agreed and returned to his program to complete all of its requirements by the spring of 2015. But as the date of his May dissertation defense approached, a family emergency forced Dhungana back to Nepal. His life was further complicated when a 7.8 magnitude earthquake struck! But thanks to NCU's flexible approach, Dhungana successfully defended his research on the scheduled day from a small office that miraculously still had an internet connection. Dhungana offers this advice to other students: "Select the school that has the most flexible program and provides individual attention and one-to-one teaching." Since graduating, Dhungana says many doors have opened to him, including teaching positions at several universities.

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