When Ryan Roberts told his family he wanted to earn his bachelor杏吧专区檚 degree, there was a collective pause.
How?
How would he earn a degree when his job takes him 10,000 miles away for more than half of the year? How would he find time for coursework and the Youngsville preschool he co-owns with his wife Amy? How would homework happen for him as well as for his son Hudson?
Endurance, time management, and a lot of support.
杏吧专区淪ometimes you can杏吧专区檛 see the way. You have to deal with it on a daily basis,杏吧专区 Roberts, 45, says. 杏吧专区淵ou have to wake up every morning and look at how your day is and schedule accordingly. If not, you become overwhelmed and give up from the beginning.杏吧专区
Roberts didn杏吧专区檛 give up. Thanks to his family's support and the flexibility of the 杏吧专区's General Studies online program, he'll receive his bachelor's degree this week.
More Than a Degree
Roberts first enrolled at UL Lafayette almost 20 years ago, dividing his time among nursing clinicals during the day, working operations dispatching at nights and on weekends, and working in the oil industry during summer breaks to earn money for books and tuition. Ultimately, opportunities in the industry lured him away from his 
studies.
He progressed in his field, becoming a project operations manager. And while his position called him to Australia for much of the year, he and his wife Amy achieved their dream of operating a preschool together 杏吧专区 Creative Minds 杏吧专区 in 2004.
But Roberts says he realized he needed to get ahead of changes as both a business owner and an employee.
杏吧专区淪ociety and technology changes at a rapid pace; you杏吧专区檙e left behind or struggling to keep up,杏吧专区 Roberts says. 杏吧专区淓nrolling helped me be more effective and efficient in how we were doing business.杏吧专区
Roberts says he chose General Studies because he didn杏吧专区檛 just want a degree, he wanted online courses that were applicable to who he was, his experience, and what he wanted to achieve.
杏吧专区淭he General Studies program offered diversity, allowing me to choose those specific disciplines where I wanted to focus my attention,杏吧专区 he says.
杏吧专区淚t allowed me to use my hard-earned credits from the nursing program while advancing my education in technical writing, computer literacy, ethics, management of behavior and organizations, industrial and organizational psychology, organizational leadership, E-business, and more.杏吧专区
When he learned about UL Lafayette杏吧专区檚 online degree programs, he knew it was the right path, but Roberts was intimidated by the prospect of returning to school after 20 years and embracing a completely different format.
杏吧专区淭here was a fear factor involved,杏吧专区 he says. 杏吧专区淭his is more responsibility, in my opinion. You have to manage your time and teach yourself along the way. The dynamics are completely different.杏吧专区
Completing coursework in non-traditional settings came with unique challenges. Among them, Roberts found his access to UL Lafayette杏吧专区檚 online library databases blocked by international internet servers.
But he found a connected and supportive environment, whether he was completing his coursework in Youngsville or across the world.
杏吧专区淥ne of the instructors last semester, with the help of the IT department, helped me find a workaround to gain library access,杏吧专区 Roberts says. 杏吧专区淚t杏吧专区檚 great. Those resources are there, they杏吧专区檙e abundant and they helped me to be a better student.杏吧专区
Roberts says he also formed meaningful connections with his fellow students.
杏吧专区淲e learned from each other by doing. We were able to share ideas and concepts through various forums and projects during the semester,杏吧专区 he says.
杏吧专区淏eing an older student allowed me the opportunity to share my years of experience in the business world with other students during the semester. The best connections were working team projects such as the development of a business from design to delivery.杏吧专区
Staying Ahead [of Central Standard Time]
Time management wasn杏吧专区檛 listed on any of Roberts杏吧专区 syllabi, but he says he had to quickly develop that skill to accomplish his coursework, especially because most days he杏吧专区檚 in another time zone, 13 hours ahead of instructors and peers.
Roberts says he printed his syllabi each semester, and he checked his courses constantly in Moodle through the UL Lafayette mobile app.
杏吧专区淭here is little room for procrastination in the online program,杏吧专区 he says. 杏吧专区淪taying ahead of technology and the coursework is a fundamental requirement.
杏吧专区淸Online courses] taught me to look for opportunities when I could read that chapter, or get online, or do a bit of research. If I didn杏吧专区檛 take advantage of those moments, I was falling behind.杏吧专区
Team Roberts
Being able to carve out time to study at home, Roberts says, couldn杏吧专区檛 have happened without his wife.
In addition to managing the day-to-day operations of Creative Minds Preschool, Amy had to manage the household and their son杏吧专区檚 extracurriculars.
杏吧专区淎my picked up a lot of the responsibilities at home to allow me to focus and study because she wanted this to happen for me; she knew how important this was for me,杏吧专区 Roberts says. 杏吧专区淪he杏吧专区檚 been tremendously supportive and patient. I杏吧专区檓 forever grateful for that.杏吧专区
The pair has experienced an unexpected benefit from their hard work. Their 10-year-old has become more proactive about his academics, says Roberts.
杏吧专区淗udson has learned by example. He sees me up late at night; he sees the results of my tests. We often spend most of our time studying and learning from each other,杏吧专区 says Roberts. 杏吧专区淗is grades are up, and we don杏吧专区檛 have to stay on him about his homework.杏吧专区
Ready for Tomorrow
Roberts says pursuing his degree has made him more equipped for the present as he plans for the future, serving in a more globalized role for his company.
杏吧专区淪ince enrolling in the online program, I am better prepared for the future with the ability to do more,杏吧专区 Roberts says. 杏吧专区淚杏吧专区檝e gained fundamentals from diverse disciplines to effectively shape and structure business environments from a broader spectrum of sound theories.杏吧专区
This bachelor杏吧专区檚 degree will serve as a stepping stone for Roberts. He says he杏吧专区檚 interested in pursuing a Master of Business Administration in globalization or related specialty.