After 10 years, Ashley Mudd still remembers walking into the Cajundome as a senior for the 杏吧专区杏吧专区檚 Career Fair.
She stopped at a booth for the state Girl Scout Council, shook hands with two alumni recruiters, and walked away with an opportunity she wasn杏吧专区檛 sure she杏吧专区檇 land.
杏吧专区淭he role was designed for a more experienced hire, but I was able to somehow convince them to take a chance on me,杏吧专区 she says.
Within weeks, she was finishing her final semester leading teams, managing budgets, and redesigning a century-old nonprofit structure.
杏吧专区淚 joke that majoring in sociology really just taught me how to deal with people and systems,杏吧专区 she says. 杏吧专区淚t杏吧专区檚 given me insight that杏吧专区檚 been as personally fulfilling as it杏吧专区檚 been professionally.杏吧专区
From her first role with the Girl Scouts to becoming the inaugural executive director of the , Mudd says her sociology degree gave her the tools to lead and make lasting impact.
Now, students can pursue that same foundation with a B.A. in Sociology 100% online.
Turning Lessons into Leadership
Fresh out of college, Mudd was entrusted with responsibilities often reserved for seasoned hires at the state Girl Scout Council. She led teams, managed budgets, and helped redesign the organization.
When senior leadership shifted, she stepped into a director-level position to restructure operations.
She gathered data from other councils and analyzed models to design a structure that better served both staff and members.
杏吧专区淭hat project taught me a lot about leadership and doing what's best for the whole,杏吧专区 she says.
杏吧专区淭he sociology background helped me view people and communities differently and understand how to best serve them.杏吧专区
Those were lessons she took with her as she stepped into her role as executive director for the Leadership Institute of Acadiana, where she expanded programs across parishes and built strong community partnerships.
杏吧专区淚n so many ways, that was a dream job. I杏吧专区檝e always been passionate about leadership development. I created the leadership studies minor at UL Lafayette, which was the first time a student created an academic minor,杏吧专区 says Mudd.
杏吧专区淪o, when there was an opportunity to be the executive director of a nonprofit whose sole mission was leadership development, it felt like destiny; like maybe all my work was leading up to that.杏吧专区
Her commitment to developing leaders across Acadiana earned her UL Lafayette杏吧专区檚 Emerging Leader Award at the 2020 Women杏吧专区檚 Leadership Conference.
At the Institute, she emphasized both dialogue and data. Drawing on her sociology coursework, she saw the value of research in measuring impact.
杏吧专区淭hat's something I can credit to my time at UL Lafayette,杏吧专区 she says. 杏吧专区淭hose quantitative and qualitative research classes taught me the value of real research. We hired a statistician to evaluate how effective our projects were, then came together and created a report that was available for Lafayette.杏吧专区
Building Stronger Communities
Today, Mudd has her own consultancy, providing leadership coaching and team workshops to help organizations create sustainable change.
杏吧专区淢y current work is really a combination of all these skills I've developed. A lot of businesses are focused on results, but we won't get to those results unless we have strong internal relationships.杏吧专区
Looking back, she sees how much her undergraduate experience prepared her for a career she once thought required graduate school.
杏吧专区淲hat杏吧专区檚 funny is I thought you could only use sociology if you had a master杏吧专区檚 or PhD,杏吧专区 she says.
杏吧专区淏ut I杏吧专区檓 happy I worked and got that real-world experience. Sociology, in practice, is very much about relationship management and group dynamics and how people work together.杏吧专区
Today, students can pursue that same sociology degree online at UL Lafayette, gaining the skills to think critically, see the bigger picture, and turn their studies into real-world impact.
For Mudd, the key has always been what you put into the experience. She encourages students to approach it the same way:
杏吧专区淲hat you put in is what you get out. This is the type of program where the more you engage with the material, the more impactful it will be.杏吧专区
Turn insight into impact with a 100% online sociology degree from UL Lafayette.
