craigdailypress.com

Kim Reeves is a busy single mom with lofty goals.

Reeves' desire to become a social worker is tempered with mothering her 3-year-old son, Hunter.

"Hunter is my top priority," she said. "I just had to find a way to finish my education while taking care of my little boy."

Reeves is am--ong the growing number of students choosing the online classroom instead of more traditional college study.

"It is really the only way I can continue my education and still be around for Hunter," Reeves said.

She said the cost per credit hour is more than if she moved to Denver.

"But if you factor in the cost of moving, renting and utilities, along with day care, it is a better bargain to stay here," she said.

Reeves competed her associate's degree in psychology at Colorado Northwestern Community Coll-ege. She traveled to South Dakota, California, New Jersey, and Minn-esota with the idea of attending college, but that never materialized. She returned to Craig to have her son.

"I am so lucky I have the family I do," she said. "They are my back-up -- my lifeline."

Reeves is in the middle of her second semester working on a degree in social work through Metro-politan State College of Den-ver. She eventually would like to work with abused women and children. She chose MSCD because of the variety and number of choices the college offered for online degree programs.

"Classroom course work is a lot easier," she said. "You are basically teaching yourself."

She said students should plan to spend 48 to 60 hours studying.

"There is tons of reading and research, as well as writing for 12 credit hours," she said.

Reeves and said she keeps a strict schedule.

"I have to plan my time, and even doing that I sometimes get behind on the reading," she said.

If all goes well, Reeves should complete her course work in about five more semesters.

"That's just about the time Hun-ter will start kindergarten," she said.