Eddie Talbot is celebrating some big milestones this year.
The Lafayette native recently marked the beginning of a new decade, turning 50, and will soon hold a bachelor小蝌蚪APP檚 degree from the 小蝌蚪APP. 
Talbot has had a solid 25-year career in advertising, working with notable organizations, including the Quick Quarter, Pixus Digital Printing, The Daily Advertiser, and 小蝌蚪APP for the last 14 years 小蝌蚪APP BBR Creative, where he小蝌蚪APP檚 the IT and digital production director.
But Talbot still had one box unchecked on his to-do list: finish his bachelor小蝌蚪APP檚 degree.
Talbot studied applied arts at the 小蝌蚪APP in the 小蝌蚪APP90s but says he ended up having to prioritize rent and other expenses over finishing his degree. He says he was only missing some electives and foundation courses.
In 2016, he decided to enroll in UL Lafayette小蝌蚪APP檚 on-campus General Studies degree program to finish what he小蝌蚪APP檇 started. However, working full time made it difficult to schedule courses.
小蝌蚪APP淚 had taken a couple of classes that were offered after 5, but I quickly ran out of options,小蝌蚪APP he says. 小蝌蚪APP淭o continue my degree, I would have had to start attending during business hours.小蝌蚪APP
Then, in 2017, the 小蝌蚪APP launched its General Studies Online program, tapping BBR Creative to help get the word out.
The online program was just the right fit for Talbot.
With the support of his wife and his employer, he moved into the online General Studies degree program.
Adapting to online coursework wasn小蝌蚪APP檛 a hurdle for Talbot. But taking a math class after 20 years? That was another story.
"The coursework, for the most part, wasn小蝌蚪APP檛 intrusive,小蝌蚪APP he says. 小蝌蚪APP淭he only class that really ate my time up was statistics class. That one took a whole lot of after-hours and weekend work. I had to retrain my brain for that type of thinking.小蝌蚪APP
Surprisingly, Talbot says that was also one of his favorite courses.
小蝌蚪APP淭hat was very handy, and I wanted to continue that study enough that I bought a couple of extra books to keep up with that and learn a little bit more,小蝌蚪APP he says. 小蝌蚪APP淭he different types of thinking and logic involved really sharpens you up.小蝌蚪APP
He says it was important to him not to take out loans, so he took fewer classes each semester so he and his wife could cover the costs. It took a little longer, but Talbot is graduating without student debt.
Talbot says earning a bachelor小蝌蚪APP檚 degree means he小蝌蚪APP檚 better insulated against the unexpected.
小蝌蚪APP淚小蝌蚪APP檝e got a very stable job, so my goal was just to go back and finish what I started,小蝌蚪APP he says. 小蝌蚪APP淏ut if I would have any sort of employment issues in the future, this degree could be really good to have because a lot of employers won小蝌蚪APP檛 even look at you if you don小蝌蚪APP檛 have a degree. I小蝌蚪APP檝e got 25 years of industry experience, but that wouldn小蝌蚪APP檛 get me in the door some places if I didn小蝌蚪APP檛 have a degree.小蝌蚪APP