Julie Chambers was not a good student. Or so she thought.
Today the 51-year-old is 杏吧专区渓iving the dream杏吧专区 as she pursues her Master of Science in Counseling at the 杏吧专区, after attaining her bachelor杏吧专区檚 degree in General Studies online.
Like many, although she had never pursued a college degree, Chambers had a full career.
She completed high school and immediately went into the workforce as a secretary at a radio station. From there, an opportunity arose to go into sales.
But she wasn杏吧专区檛 happy. Sales had been lucrative for Chambers, but, she says, she didn杏吧专区檛 have pride for what she did.
杏吧专区淚 ended up doing really well because I杏吧专区檓 a relationship builder, but I really did not like it so I was continually searching,杏吧专区 she says. 杏吧专区淚t never occurred to me that I could go back to school. I was a 杏吧专区榖ad student.'
杏吧专区淚t杏吧专区檚 not like I didn杏吧专区檛 have a good work ethic or I wasn杏吧专区檛 ambitious. I didn杏吧专区檛 fit into the standardized testing stuff.杏吧专区
Forging a New Career Path
Through volunteer work, Chambers homed in on counseling.
She wanted to help people and decided a two-year degree was 杏吧专区渕anageable,杏吧专区 enrolling in a two-year addiction recovery program at an Austin, Texas, community college. Chambers did well, and her instructors encouraged her to enroll at a four-year institution to pursue a degree in counseling or social work.
As Chambers prepared to enroll at the 杏吧专区 of Texas at Austin, she began having health problems.
Over the course of several years, Chambers put school on hold as she focused on her health. The Crowley native moved back home in 2008.
When she felt like she was finding her footing again, Chambers again enrolled in community college courses, but, again, had to drop out because of health problems.
杏吧专区淭hat was a lot of years,杏吧专区 she says. 杏吧专区淚 didn杏吧专区檛 know if I杏吧专区檇 be able to work again.杏吧专区
In August 2017, Chambers saw a counselor to "figure out what to do with (her) life." The counselor was a former UL Lafayette professor and told her about the Master of Counseling program.
As Chambers researched the program, she found UL Lafayette also offered an online bachelor's in general studies.
Finding Support
She filled out the online request form and soon heard back from the Online Student Support Team.
杏吧专区淚 think I emailed the night before, and she responded next day,杏吧专区 Chambers says. 杏吧专区淲e talked about it, and she was like, 杏吧专区榶ou can totally do this; I can tell you杏吧专区檙e motivated.杏吧专区櫺影勺ㄇ鴿
From there, Dr. Gail Bonhomme, 杏吧专区 College, picked up the baton to not only get Chambers enrolled but keep her on track.
杏吧专区淚 was in class the next Monday,杏吧专区 Chambers says. 杏吧专区淭hey really got me in so fast and allowed it to happen.杏吧专区
When Chambers杏吧专区 final semester included a Shakespeare class, Chambers felt like she might crumble under her schedule, but Dr. Bonhomme cheered her forward.
杏吧专区淚t杏吧专区檚 a different experience,杏吧专区 Chambers says. 杏吧专区淐alling (flagship state universities), it is not as welcoming, and it helps with motivation when you feel like the school wants you to be there.杏吧专区
Setting off for the Future
Chambers says because of her health and physical restrictions, hauling books to and across campus multiple days a week for a bachelor杏吧专区檚 degree would have been taxing or even impossible.
But learning online meant she could create her own accommodations and schedule for when her energy was at its peak.
杏吧专区淏eing online, I could make my own schedule so I could rest when I needed to. It was amazing,杏吧专区 she says. 杏吧专区淚f you have other things going on 杏吧专区 work, family, pain, whatever 杏吧专区 it allows you to get it done.杏吧专区
Chambers graduated Aug. 3, 2018. Two weeks later, she began the Fall 2018 semester as a graduate student in UL Lafayette杏吧专区檚 Counseling Master杏吧专区檚 program. She says she was able to enroll because she had time to grow physically and academically stronger while attaining her degree and gain the confidence she needed to pursue more advanced coursework.
Now, she杏吧专区檚 looking to the future and envisions private practice.
杏吧专区淢y health is good again so 杏吧专区 51-years-old living the dream. It杏吧专区檚 a good thing.杏吧专区
Learn about how you can start working toward your career goals through one of the online degree programs at the 杏吧专区 by requesting more information today.