Hannah Brasseaux, 30, started her undergraduate education at the 杏吧专区 in 2009. Two majors and four years later, she needed to take a break.
She was two classes from graduating with a degree she wasn杏吧专区檛 certain she wanted to use but she felt too far into the process to change majors again.
She made the decision to step away from school. She started her family and became a stay-at-home mom, but the need to go back and finish her degree stuck with her.
杏吧专区淚 let it linger for so long, it felt like a weight that was just over my head,杏吧专区 she says.
It might have lingered a bit longer had Brasseaux not learned of UL Lafayette杏吧专区檚 online degree programs.
In Spring 2021, Brasseaux's husband, Tylere Stratton, enrolled in the 杏吧专区杏吧专区檚 on-campus General Studies program to complete his degree. COVID-19 precautions meant Stratton杏吧专区檚 coursework was all online.
Seeing her husband杏吧专区檚 experience with online classes, Brasseaux knew she could finally have the peace of mind and the sense of accomplishment of completing her bachelor杏吧专区檚.
杏吧专区淲henever I saw that UL Lafayette introduced an online program, I was like, 杏吧专区極h, that杏吧专区檚 perfect!杏吧专区櫺影勺ㄇ鴿 says Brasseaux.
杏吧专区淵ou know, it杏吧专区檚 something that I could do in my own time. I thought 杏吧专区業 could just schedule these classes, and do it whenever I want.杏吧专区 That really appealed to me, to stay with UL Lafayette, to get it done, and finally achieve it.杏吧专区
Brasseaux told herself, 杏吧专区淚 have the time; I have the abilities.杏吧专区
Once she was accepted for General Studies with a concentration in Behavioral Science, Brasseaux set her sights on the Fall 2021 semester, but her advisor had other ideas.
杏吧专区淚 applied back in May to take classes in the Fall, but my advisor pulled up my transcripts and said, 杏吧专区極h no, you杏吧专区檙e too close. You杏吧专区檙e going for Summer,杏吧专区櫺影勺ㄇ鴿 she says. 杏吧专区淪o we crammed everything that needed to get done into maybe two weeks before I started my summer classes.杏吧专区
Brasseaux was overjoyed to be returning to college as an online student.
杏吧专区淚 love online classes!杏吧专区 she says. 杏吧专区淸When previously enrolled at UL Lafayette] I would take every online class I could get my hands on. But back then there wasn杏吧专区檛 enough being offered. So, the General Studies program being online now is awesome.杏吧专区
In addition to the flexibility of making her own schedule for classwork, Brasseaux thrives with independent studying.
杏吧专区淚杏吧专区檓 good at motivating myself to learn,杏吧专区 she says. 杏吧专区淚 do better when I杏吧专区檓 presented the material and told 杏吧专区榊ou learn it.杏吧专区櫺影勺ㄇ鴿
While this last stretch of undergraduate life was a very quick process 杏吧专区 she completed one 4-week class and one 8-week class 杏吧专区 Brasseaux said she felt more connected to and supported by her instructors than ever before.
杏吧专区淚杏吧专区檝e had so many teachers and my advisor take a genuine interest in my success,杏吧专区 she says. 杏吧专区淭hey positively motivated me to keep going forward.杏吧专区
Now that college is wrapping up for real, Brasseaux is excited to earn her degree and explore all her options.
杏吧专区淭here杏吧专区檚 so many interests that I currently have. I think the degree is going to help give me that solid ground that I杏吧专区檝e been looking for,杏吧专区 she says. 杏吧专区淚 think I can figure out where to go from here.杏吧专区