My Depaul Journey

My long journey in obtaining my degree from DePaul started 30 years ago, and has spanned a 27-year career in IT as well as marriage and two children who are now both in college. The classes I have taken at SNL have bridged several phases of my life and my learnings from each of them has given me something to utilize in both my work life as well as my home life. With all of the great classes that I have taken, I do have several that stand out overall.
The classes I have taken to shape my focus area have been essential in building my career and broadening my scope of responsibilities. I learned and retained a great deal from these classes, but it seems that the classes that were “outside” of my field have surprised me the most, I have greatly enjoyed and I have retained the longest.

My DePaul journey started with traditional courses in pursuit of a Business Degree.

In the midst of that, I did some work that intrigued me in the computer area and decided to take a proficiency test to determine if this field was a suitable fit for me and I passed with flying colors. Already a student at DePaul, I decided to apply for the Computer Career Program certification to get a jump start on getting a new position. With the 9-month program complete, I found a new job several months later. I now needed to take a step back and decide where I wanted to go with my schooling and degree. While I could have continued to pursue a degree in IT, I decided to enroll in the SNL program instead to take advantage of my work experience and obtain a liberal arts degree. With numerous breaks in between classes, I always came back when things settled

down.
While I can’t list all the classes, it was the first few that opened my eyes to the value of the program. One of the first classes that surprised me was the “Women’s Health and Medicine” class. This class was before the explosion of the internet and the ability for folks to Google just about any question. The information put together for that class along with the in-class discussions was invaluable. The perspective and focus on women and their health issues and concerns was ideal as it gave me a different outlook on how to view my own health care and to always ask questions.
Another class where I broadened my learning was “American Nature Writing”. I have taken many English and writing classes in the past, but this one was a bit different as the focus was on the inspiration of what you were writing and not the mechanics. Writing was never my strong suit, but I learned that as long as I was truly invested in my subject, that I could get my point across. Using the principles taught in this class on observation of my surroundings and environment using it to write a simple story had a bigger impact on me than having a well written paper about something I had no excitement about.
Another great class was “Brain, Mind and Behavior”, which gave me great insight into the workings of the brain at a time where I was trying to understand a family member’s illness. It was a great foundation for future discussions and understanding of diagnoses. And lastly, my “Opera” class opened my eyes into a world of music and performance that I know I would have never delved into had it not been for the class.
Overall, the classes that have stayed with me the most throughout these years are those that I had no great expectations from but a curiosity to learn something outside of comfort level. The greatest learning I experienced throughout this journey were the classes that were not in my field. Whether it is writing by inspiration, dealing with health issues with family as well as coworkers armed with reliable information or just being open to new experiences, I am constantly amazed at how these classes at SNL have challenged and helped me and continue to do so today.