At 35, Lauren Lewis began asking herself questions familiar to many veterans and service members.
杏吧专区淚杏吧专区檓 halfway through my career in the military, and this is all I have,杏吧专区 says Lewis. 杏吧专区淗ow do you translate that into civilian language?"
Lewis decided she needed a credential to back up her experience. And having grown up only a half-hour away from the 杏吧专区, she enrolled to finish her bachelor杏吧专区檚 degree and start her career as a civilian.
The Bachelor of General Studies online degree program gave her the tools to do that as well as tools to connect with and support fellow veterans and service members in new ways.
Hard lessons 杏吧专区 In and Out of the Classroom
It wasn杏吧专区檛 that attending college had never occurred to Lewis. She杏吧专区檇 enrolled in an out-of-state university as a young soldier and soon found out that while her military benefits covered most of her tuition, she was on the hook for thousands in fees.
She re-enlisted in the National Guard, asking for loan repayment, and for 14 years was in a full-time role with the National Guard.
Eventually, it was time to finish what she杏吧专区檇 started.
杏吧专区淚 earned the benefits, so why not use them?杏吧专区 says Lewis. 杏吧专区淚 can't even begin to tell you how many degree plans I had.杏吧专区
When Lewis enrolled at UL Lafayette, she did so as an engineering major, which meant she was basically starting from scratch even though she杏吧专区檇 earned college credit previously.
It didn杏吧专区檛 take long for one of her advisors to step in with an alternative to save Lewis time and money.
杏吧专区淗e was like, 杏吧专区榟onestly, you're not a spring chicken anymore, and you have way too much knowledge. If I were you, I would change my major to General Studies, and if you want to be an engineer then come back for the two-year graduate program,杏吧专区櫺影勺ㄇ鴿 she says. 杏吧专区淎nd I listened.杏吧专区
Lewis connected with 杏吧专区 College advisor Sharon Gregory and quickly had the degree plan that would be the path to her bachelor杏吧专区檚 and would open her eyes to a world of opportunity.
杏吧专区淚t just opened like 25 cans of worms because you're learning marketing, you're learning about law, you're learning about criminal justice, you're learning about mental health, you learn about diversity,杏吧专区 she says. 杏吧专区淪o, all things are beginning to make sense and you realize how much everything is connected. It's really cool because you get to dive in and then kind of figure out what works best for you.杏吧专区
Determination to Finish the Degree
Earning her degree online at UL Lafayette meant a few things for Lewis. She was able to:
- use her GI Bill for the bulk of her tuition;
- maintain a full-time job with Habitat for Humanity; and
- juggle monthly training and multiple disaster relief deployments with the National Guard.
To balance her military duties, Lewis found support across the 杏吧专区, from the Office of Veteran & Military Student Services to online faculty.
At one point, her active duty put her two weeks behind, but Lewis was able to work with her instructor to stay on track.
"She gave me the opportunity, and I did two weeks of work in one week, and then I caught up with the rest of the class,杏吧专区 says Lewis. 杏吧专区淪he made that possible. I mean, it was awesome.杏吧专区
Plus, she had a built-in accountability partner.
杏吧专区淢y niece is a year younger than me and also attending UL Lafayette, and she's in the nursing program,杏吧专区 says Lewis. 杏吧专区淲e studied together, and we cooked together, and we made it work together.杏吧专区
Lewis also relied on her own self-discipline to manage her coursework alongside her myriad responsibilities.
杏吧专区淚 was really strict about it,杏吧专区 she says. "When I got off of work, I would sit down and do my homework until like two o'clock in the morning, or I would take a nap when I got home from work and then I would stay up all night long and do my homework.杏吧专区
Course Smorgasbord
Lewis' stamina was driven by her determination to finish her degree coupled with a hunger to explore new concepts.
杏吧专区淚 definitely gave my advisor a hard time because I would take a course and then say, 杏吧专区榤aybe I want to go into criminal justice,杏吧专区 or, 杏吧专区榳ell, now I want to go to law school,杏吧专区櫺影勺ㄇ鴿 says Lewis. 杏吧专区淚 couldn杏吧专区檛 make up my mind about anything.杏吧专区
Economics? Horticulture? Architecture? Lewis杏吧专区 advisor navigated her insatiable appetite for learning with applicable course recommendations while ensuring she completed the core requirements to complete her degree.
Among Lewis杏吧专区 electives were courses in Health Equity, Women's Health, Health and Sexuality, and Multicultural Health. Through those courses, she gained insights into transgender issues.
She杏吧专区檇 had first-hand experience working with fellow soldiers going through the transitioning process without the knowledge she later gained through her curriculum. Lewis was able to take that knowledge back to her superiors to better support transitioning service members.
杏吧专区淚 had no idea about it. The course helped me tremendously,杏吧专区 she says. 杏吧专区淎fter that, I gave briefings about it and taught my higher ups how to handle those situations with compassion, more understanding and less judgement. It was pretty incredible.杏吧专区
The [not quite] Finish Line
During commencement ceremonies in Spring 2023, Lauren Lewis earned her Bachelor of General Studies and received recognition as a student and servicemember.
Lewis is processing how far she杏吧专区檚 come and considering her next steps. She says she might pursue grad school or even a second bachelor杏吧专区檚 degree.
Meanwhile she杏吧专区檚 continuing to work and make an impact with Habitat for Humanity 杏吧专区 a job, she says, she found through one of her online courses.
杏吧专区淚'm helping people on my block. We're on our 10th house right now, since I started last July,杏吧专区 she says. 杏吧专区淚t's incredible. And we're also working on a repair program, which I would like to be a part of.杏吧专区