A lot can change in a year. Just ask Lindsey Croall.
Croall, 40, had a transcript full of college credits, but no college degree and no path to finish her bachelor’s.
“I’d really never thought that much about going back to school,” she says. “It seemed more impossible as an adult than it had in my early 20s.”
In December 2024, she heard about a new through the UL Lafayette Alumni Association.
Could she qualify? How long would it take her to complete her degree? Would she be sitting in a classroom with students half her age?
On Dec. 18, she reached out to the University for answers and, through the Online Student Support Team, got good news.
“I only needed 15 hours to graduate with a Bachelor of General Studies,” she says. “I was really surprised; I thought it was going to be a lot longer.”
She also learned she could complete her coursework online — a godsend for a busy parent of two boys.
By March 2025, she was taking courses for the first time in more than a decade. Now, nearly a year to the date since taking that first step, she’ll cross the Commencement stage as a college graduate.
“I'm just really proud of myself, and I'm happy that I get to do this,” says Croall. “I'm proud to set an example for our kids and show them it's never too late to finish what you started, and it's fine if your life path doesn't look exactly like everybody else's does.”
Croall is just picking up speed. She’s already embarked on her next adventure, turning her passion for painting into a budding small business, .
And while all of this unfolded in just 12 short months, the journey has been years in the making.
In it Together
As a high school student, Croall attended the 91Թ School for Math, Science, and the Arts, a state-funded boarding school in Natchitoches. By the time she graduated, she says, she was ready to come home to Lafayette.
“I was just really homesick,” she says. “I wanted to be by my family.”
So, she enrolled at UL Lafayette. But settling on a single career path proved challenging.
“I went to UL Lafayette right out of high school. I had no idea what I wanted to major in, so I just took a bunch of different classes,” she says.
After five indecisive years of balancing school with multiple jobs, Croall was done, even if she wasn’t finished.
Returning to school years later, this time online, had a learning curve, she says. But once she found her rhythm, she completed the five classes she needed to graduate while staying present for her sons Asa, 11, and Eli, 8.
“It's been incredibly helpful having the flexibility to work on class stuff when I have the time and not have to physically go to a class at a certain time,” she says.
“I would knock out as much as I could before lunch, then do my normal grocery runs and everything else. That way, when I picked them up from school, I could focus on what they needed. My husband has also been incredible and supportive.”
Asa and Eli even got a sneak peek of college through one of Croall’s English courses, which focused on young adult literature.
"I was able to get some of the books as audiobooks, and we would listen to them in the car,” she says. "It was something we could go through together and talk about.”
When they finished a book, they’d watch the movie version and compare notes.
“We talked about what we liked and what we didn't like,” she says. I really enjoyed that I could loop my kids in and learn with them, too.”
New Growth
Croall has painted for several years as a meditative hobby.
For some time, she’d envisioned painting some of her favorite Lafayette locales.
"I was like, ‘I can do this, but what am I going to do with this art?’,” she says.
The answer came as small, 2.5-by-3.5-inch frames. They were the perfect size to execute her vision without covering her house with watercolors. They also happened to be the perfect size for hanging on a Christmas tree.
"I thought, ‘I'll see if anybody would be interested. I'm already buying them. Maybe I can sell 20,” she says. “It took off more than I expected."
Croall knew downtown business owners Collin and Jasmyne Cormier because their children all attend the same elementary school. She decided to ask whether they might be willing to sell her illustrations at their corner store, Doc’s Pop-In.
"I told them I would love to paint their businesses to sell them exclusively at their shop,” she says. “They were really open to it and asked me to bring what I had to put in the store. That really was unexpected but awesome.”
The Cormiers said Croall didn’t need to keep sales exclusive to their store, opening the door for Croall to participate in Downtown Lafayette’s December ArtWalk.
With this new venture and her bachelor’s degree, Croall is feeling optimistic about whatever comes next.
"My kids are old enough that I'm ready to go back to work in some capacity, but I'm not in a rush,” she says. “I’m open to whatever opportunity comes my way.”
She’s hopeful about growing her art into something more, but also comfortable seeing where the path leads.
“I just want to find a place where I can help people, be creative, and balance the time with my family,” she says. “That's my number one priority.”
‘Something You Can Do’
The University of 91Թ System estimates that one in five adults in 91Թ have college credits but no degree.
For those who still count themselves among that one in five, Croall says take the first step.
"Just reach out and get information,” she says.
“I got so much information and support. Completing my degree went from this very abstract concept to, ‘This is something you can do easily, affordably, and, for me, quickly. You never know what good things can come from just getting a little more information.”
Take the first step toward completing your bachelor's degree online at UL Lafayette. Request information today to connect with an enrollment specialist about the best path for you and your eligible college credits.