A BLAST FROM THE ‘DISTANCE’ PAST:
LEARNING THE CASSETTE WAY
Linda Pygiel (BA ’96) went back to school as a mature student in her 40s, when she had three children at home. She attended Waterloo, working towards her Bachelor of Arts in history, which she achieved in 1996.
In 1997 Pygiel began giving back to support the University. She gave her first gift to the Library; she likes turning the pages of a book. To date, Pygiel has given generously to more than seven different areas of the University and continues to support the Library.
Pygiel has since gone on to earn her MA from the University of Toronto and is currently working on her PhD. But it was her time at Waterloo that remains close to her heart.
Waterloo staff member duplicates lecture tapes for the Physics Correspondence Program, July 1976
She completed her BA through the Waterloo distance education program and yet felt very much a part of the campus community, meeting some of her professors and attending monthly lunches on campus with her fellow learners. These visits also allowed her to get to know the Library.
At that time, distance education meant all lectures were recorded on cassette tapes and mailed to students, along with textbooks and syllabi. Pygiel and her fellow distance education leaners bonded over their shared experience of last-minute rushes to the post office to get their essays in the mail to Waterloo by their deadlines.
Pygiel is, “very thankful for the opportunity to have completed my degree at Waterloo through the distance education program. I remember fondly the help and support from the people who coordinated the program and my fellow cassette learners.”