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Ranesha Ellis spends her days helping Houma high schoolers prepare and apply for colleges and universities, but the Houma guidance secretary says she began to wonder if she should complete her own college journey.

Ellis began pursuing her degree in Child and Family Studies in 2004 at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, which she says, “wasn’t too far and wasn’t too close to home.”

She left the University in 2007 without a degree but with plans to eventually re-enroll and make her mother proud.

Instead, she found a job she loved in her hometown and became content with the life she was building.

But in 2017, Ellis’ friend and former college roommate called her with a proposition.

“She found out about the online General Studies program and she called me and was like, ‘Hey, let’s do this — let’s finish together,’” says Ellis.

She wasn’t initially sold, but then Ellis says she thought about her students.

“I was like, ‘How can I motivate them to go to school and stick with it, if I didn’t?’ I decided this was my opportunity to go back,” she says.

Completing her degree meant multiple rounds of homework in the Ellis home — first for her 5-year-old daughter, then herself.

“I made sure she did her little lessons for pre-k, then afterwards, it was all about my books,” she says. “It was hard, but I kept pushing through it because I knew I would be able to benefit from it.”

The 34-year-old says she also had support from her supervisor at Ellender Memorial High School, as well as faculty and staff at the University.

“The instructors were awesome,” she says. “When I had any problems or any questions, they responded quickly and were very helpful, as well as my advisor.”

Her renewed determination to complete her degree was evident in Ellis’ grades.

“I can look back at my transcript and see I did not do what I needed to do because I wasn’t focused when I first went to school,” she says. “Now, I’m way more focused.”

With her degree finally within reach, Ellis says she’s exploring a range of possibilities, including graduate school. She says the courses within the General Studies online program opened her eyes to different fields and opportunities.

“If the University College would have never offered this program, I would have never been able to push myself and find out what all I could achieve,” she says. “If anyone asked me before, I would have said, ‘school’s not for everybody; I’m not going back to school.’ But here I am about to graduate. Never say never.”

Ellis says this has also been an opportunity to set an example for her daughter.

“In the end I did it for her, too,” Ellis says. “So she can see Mommy did this; this is possible.”

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