鈥淭hroughout the program, I had a lot of 鈥榓ha鈥 moments. There were times when we鈥檇 cover a concept and I鈥檇 be like, 鈥榃ait, they talked about this on our last earnings call.鈥欌
鈥淭he M.Ed. program gave me confidence and made me feel like I have a voice. Now, whenever there鈥檚 a new law passed or a new policy in my district, I have the tools to look it up for myself and interpret it and be an advocate for myself and other teachers.鈥
鈥淚t took me 21 years to finish. I鈥檓 still in awe that I actually did this. My first semester on campus, I remember using the telephone dial-up to register for classes. It鈥檚 been neat to see the University鈥檚 complete transition to modern technology.鈥
鈥淭here were just so many different courses that allowed me to think deeply about criminal justice topics I鈥檇 never considered before, like crime and media or crime and mental health. I think if students coming into the program allow themselves ... they鈥檒l have their minds opened to a lot of different perspectives that could take them anywhere.鈥
鈥淚 feel like people think you have to really grind and maybe cut out certain things in your life, but you don鈥檛 have to do that. The online program is tailored to people with careers or other responsibilities.鈥
鈥淚 worked on some assignments during a trip to Disney, I worked on some stuff at the beach... I just loved that I could still have an active life even though I was in school. I think that was the best part.鈥
鈥淚鈥檓 not a typical librarian who just reads books. I do whatever the teachers are teaching in their classrooms. The program taught us how to look at curriculum, so I can have those conversations with my colleagues now to make sure everything is aligned.鈥
鈥淭he general studies degree is so versatile. If you鈥檙e entering this program, just go for it, because it doesn鈥檛 mean that you鈥檙e undecisive. It just means you鈥檙e exploring and learning new things along the way.鈥
鈥淎 nursing instructor told this to me... 'Never forget to pay yourself once you鈥檙e done.' And remember that nothing worth having comes easy. Don鈥檛 give up on yourself because you never know what鈥檚 going to find you.鈥
鈥淚f earning your MBA is something you want to do, do it. Put your heart into it, and know that you can achieve it. 麻豆果冻传媒 Lafayette will always have a lasting impression on me because of the experience I had.鈥