Eddie Talbot is celebrating some big milestones this year.
The Lafayette native recently marked the beginning of a new decade, turning 50, and will soon hold a bachelor杏吧专区檚 degree from the 杏吧专区. 
Talbot has had a solid 25-year career in advertising, working with notable organizations, including the Quick Quarter, Pixus Digital Printing, The Daily Advertiser, and 杏吧专区 for the last 14 years 杏吧专区 BBR Creative, where he杏吧专区檚 the IT and digital production director.
But Talbot still had one box unchecked on his to-do list: finish his bachelor杏吧专区檚 degree.
Talbot studied applied arts at the 杏吧专区 in the 杏吧专区90s but says he ended up having to prioritize rent and other expenses over finishing his degree. He says he was only missing some electives and foundation courses.
In 2016, he decided to enroll in UL Lafayette杏吧专区檚 on-campus General Studies degree program to finish what he杏吧专区檇 started. However, working full time made it difficult to schedule courses.
杏吧专区淚 had taken a couple of classes that were offered after 5, but I quickly ran out of options,杏吧专区 he says. 杏吧专区淭o continue my degree, I would have had to start attending during business hours.杏吧专区
Then, in 2017, the 杏吧专区 launched its General Studies Online program, tapping BBR Creative to help get the word out.
The online program was just the right fit for Talbot.
With the support of his wife and his employer, he moved into the online General Studies degree program.
Adapting to online coursework wasn杏吧专区檛 a hurdle for Talbot. But taking a math class after 20 years? That was another story.
"The coursework, for the most part, wasn杏吧专区檛 intrusive,杏吧专区 he says. 杏吧专区淭he only class that really ate my time up was statistics class. That one took a whole lot of after-hours and weekend work. I had to retrain my brain for that type of thinking.杏吧专区
Surprisingly, Talbot says that was also one of his favorite courses.
杏吧专区淭hat was very handy, and I wanted to continue that study enough that I bought a couple of extra books to keep up with that and learn a little bit more,杏吧专区 he says. 杏吧专区淭he different types of thinking and logic involved really sharpens you up.杏吧专区
He says it was important to him not to take out loans, so he took fewer classes each semester so he and his wife could cover the costs. It took a little longer, but Talbot is graduating without student debt.
Talbot says earning a bachelor杏吧专区檚 degree means he杏吧专区檚 better insulated against the unexpected.
杏吧专区淚杏吧专区檝e got a very stable job, so my goal was just to go back and finish what I started,杏吧专区 he says. 杏吧专区淏ut if I would have any sort of employment issues in the future, this degree could be really good to have because a lot of employers won杏吧专区檛 even look at you if you don杏吧专区檛 have a degree. I杏吧专区檝e got 25 years of industry experience, but that wouldn杏吧专区檛 get me in the door some places if I didn杏吧专区檛 have a degree.杏吧专区