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Sanejo was born and raised in Southern California to a large family with 11 children, in a Christian household. She has a Bachelor's degree in Religion from Vanguard University, and a Master of Divinity degree from Azusa Pacific University. She is finishing up her Doctor of Ministry degree from Azusa, with a concentration in Spirituality and Leadership. She has also been in pastoral leadership for the past fourteen years, serving as a youth pastor, student ministries pastor, and associate pastor in both urban and suburban settings. Sanejo's transformative experience of growing up in the church, and being involved in a program called "Bible Quiz" in the Assembly of God church, in which she was able to memorize 10 books of the Bible, helped to develop a desire to study the Bible and then teach and share it with others. Sanejo sees her role as both a pastor and professor as |
| important. She is maintaining a dual role: being involved in education and also helping to shape and transform lives in the local church through God's Word and the development of life-changing Biblical theology. How has facilitating online courses at GCU helped you find your purpose? My role as a professor at GCU has helped me to fulfill my purpose by teaching and shaping others. As both a practitioner in pastoral ministry and lifelong learner myself, I am called to help shape people with the power of God's Word. The ability to do both, in the church community and in the classroom, is fulfilling. What is one effective teaching strategy you use in your online classes? I am a big believer in the Socratic method; therefore, I utilize the discussion forum to challenge students' thinking through dialogue, but rely more on questions. I believe that questions help to stimulate our thinking, and help each student arrive at his or her own conclusion rather than being told what the answer is. Anyone can memorize, but it takes a learner to actively engage his or her critical thinking to come to his or her own conclusion based upon the information provided. What is a GCU online student success story you can share? GCU has allowed me the opportunity to work with and teach adults from various backgrounds. For example, I had one student who was coming out of a difficult personal situation. She was having trouble in the classroom due to personal and other academic issues, and it required much effort on my part through phone conversations, constant emailing back and forth, and consistent guidance and direction in her academic assignments in order to complete the course. Throughout the course, she constantly battled the desire to drop out of the course, yet she stayed in and did well. I do not believe she would have remained in the course without my continuous attention. It is difficult to provide this type of attention for all students, and not every student needs the same amount of help. I try to help guide, encourage, and stay in contact with students and their various needs to help them succeed here at GCU. |
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