Vicki Vincent-Seaux, 62, of Duson, didn’t tell anyone when she enrolled in the University of Louisiana at Lafayette online General Studies program.
“At the beginning, it was kind of embarrassing because I sat out for 40 years,” she said.
But those feelings shifted to excitement as she approached her final semester, and as she prepared to accept her degree as part of UL Lafayette’s Fall 2018 commencement.
“The last couple of days, even at the office, I walk around just smiling,” she said.
Vincent-Seaux originally enrolled at the University of Southwestern Louisiana in 1974 in biology-chemistry.
Before completing her degree, she left the University to focus on her work at Our Lady of Lourdes. But when hospital accreditation standards shifted, without a certification, Vincent-Seaux moved on to serve as the Cajundome box office manager.
In January 1984, Vincent-Seaux had her first child, Vanessa. That December, she welcomed twin boys Matt and Chris.
With three small children, Vincent-Seaux found better working hours with the Lafayette Parish School System as a cook technician. She’s been there ever since, serving as Area Supervisor of Child Nutrition Services for the past 18 years.
Although Vincent-Seaux and her husband had talked about her going back to school for nearly 40 years, between her full-time job and a plethora of extracurriculars with her children — baseball, basketball, softball, dancing, golf, youth group, and Boy Scouts, to name a few — there just wasn’t an opportunity.
“I’ve always wanted to finish,” she said. “I just never had the time. There was always a job or the kids or whatever.”
But then she saw an ad for UL Lafayette’s online degree programs.
“I sent my information in and maybe two hours later got a phone call,” she said. “They pulled my information and… I only had six classes left.”
She registered for her first class in fall 2017, spacing her courses out over four semesters to better balance her coursework with her work schedule.
When she needed special permission to register for one of her final courses, she reached out to her advisor Sharon Williams-Gregory and University College Associate Dean Dr. Gail Bonhomme, who “jumped into action.”
As she read Vincent-Seaux's name during commencement, Dr. Bonhomme told the story. The course Vincent-Seaux needed was for majors. She bought her textbook and read it twice before the semester began.
Vincent-Seaux remembers getting the call for permission to schedule her course.
“They were both on the line and were as excited as I was,” she said. “I did not know what to expect, but my experience with the classes and the staff of University College could not have been better.”
To be successful in her courses, Vincent-Seaux had to adapt to new processes and technologies, from uploading videos to YouTube to navigating the online classroom environment, in addition to committing to her course content.
“But I did it; I got it all,” she said. “I literally studied every night and did every bit of homework. I never waited until the last minute. You have to stay up with it.”
Although earning her degree was a matter of personal fulfillment rather than a career move — she plans to retire soon — Vincent-Seaux found her courses enlightening.
“One of the last classes I took was on cultural competence and was probably the most eye-opening,” she said. “It was realizing how to deal with someone who doesn’t speak the same language or have the same traditions as you. To me, the whole class could be geared to any job, realizing that not everybody is going to speak English and you just have to work one-on-one — to try to communicate with them ... it just makes such a difference.”
She may find those skills handy as she prepares for a Nordic post-retirement trip with her husband.
Vincent-Seaux said she would have preferred her degree to read “University of Southwestern Louisiana,” but after 37 years, she was eager to accept her University of Louisiana at Lafayette degree.
“I’m excited. It’s more than just an item on the bucket list,” she said. “I feel accomplished.”
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