What it is like to be a Non-Traditional Student at SPS?
Posted by Sherry Wright-Gully
As a non-traditional student I find it to be quite challenging at times. However, I appreciate the success accomplished at the end of each course. The times that I find it most challenging are when I have to juggle other obligations, such as family and work, with my classes. I have a 16-year old daughter at Cardinal Ritter College Prep High School and am fulfilling the duties of two positions at my job right now. During the first part of this year, a fellow employee’s position was eliminated, and I inherited her tasks in combination with my current job description.
I have been maintaining both positions for many months now while also occupying the position of the president of the PTA for my daughter’s school. I also mounted a play production in January that was performed at SIU in Edwardsville. When you put all of this together, it can be quite taxing.
Nevertheless, Saint Louis University School for Professional Studies (SPS) makes life easier for people in my position. SPS offers online courses that allow me the opportunity to complete courses at my own pace as long as I have an appropriate computer for each class. Online courses give me the freedom to complete the courses at home during the morning, noon, or in the wee hours of the night. I do not have to worry about getting to an on-ground class on time, nor am I obligated to be there on a specific night. This makes life easier for me when I have hectic schedules.
As a non-traditional student, I feel very fortunate to have the opportunity to complete courses online because it affords me the opportunity to complete my degree, which has been a desire of mine since my divorce. After enduring a painful divorce that left me in a single-mom position, it was not easy to recreate my life again; it seemed like all that was left was broken dreams and promises.
Imagine how thrilled I was to discover that the opportunity was still there just waiting for me to take advantage of it. Now that I am a senior, I am thankful to have come this far and can’t wait to become a graduate of SPS. SPS has gone the extra mile in consideration of people like me. SPS has been committed to making dreams come true and holds true to the statement Saint Louis University Where Knowledge Touches Lives. My life has truly been touched in a way that I can’t describe – especially in terms of getting an education that I can be proud of. None of this would have been possible without SPS and its dedication to people like me. Being a non-traditional student is an honor that I will never forget. In the midst of my VERY busy life I have the opportunity to obtain a degree.
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Hello Billikens,
We would love to hear your comments.
Sherry,
It’s amazing sometimes (in retrospect, of course) how painful and terrible life experiences can give us new and brighter beginnings, after we expected nothing but an ‘end’.
My son asked me once why I hadn’t completed college when I was younger, and I had to change the subject. I don’t talk poorly about his Father in front of him, but, because of his unavailability at home, I had no time for school, and because of his financial irresponsibility, I had no money for classes or books either.
I really thought that my life as I knew it was destroyed, but, over the past six years, I’ve rebuilt everything bigger and better than it was before.
Sure, I lost my house and had to live in an apartment for two years.
Sure, I faced single Motherhood at age 24.
BUT, with a supportive boss, a good employer, and a wonderful friend who later became my husband, we’re doing alright, and my son knows from watching me that, it’s never too late, no matter the reason things didn’t wind up ‘perfect’ the first time around.
I applaud you for taking the opportunity you were given and making the most of it!