Thanks!

[AwardTour]

Hello Everyone,
 I got my final Capstone grade from the April 2019 term - 94 on the final project, and an overall course grade of 95. This was the final step on my journey to a BA-LS TESU. Really enjoyed Professor Haydel, her Capstone manual and her managing the course overall, highly recommend her as a mentor. I already applied for graduation midway through the course for September graduation. July 5th, the day before my birthday, brought an email from TESU congratulating me on a BALS with September 13th graduation date. July 8th I received the Commencement Invitation scheduled for September 28th.  BIG sigh!!
Unlike some of the members here, crushing multiple degrees in months, my journey began 33 years ago at a small community college in NH. A few decades and continents later I would up in NJ and on this board. Happy for both.
 I would like to give a huge hearty thanks to the all the members of this forum. Over the last few years, as I procrastinated, always looking for an easier, less time consuming path to receive a degree, I certainly let too much time slip away, unused. Pretty much every day I was scouring the new posts and going back through the old posts trying to find angle to get a degree. During that wasted time, as schools changed requirements and costs, it was only becoming more rigorous, difficult and more expensive to earn a degree. If only I had applied that dedication to actually knocking out classes/courses/exams I would have been writing this a few years ago. The lessons learned from all your shared experiences has been an incredible base of knowledge. A big shout out to dfrecore for pulling me along, leading me to a degree, with davewill, sanantone, Merlin, bjcheung77, cookderosa pushing as well. I feel that all the folks that post have contributed to my success in reaching this goal. Thank you!!
Now some time off to spend with my kids while I figure out if my next step is a Masters’ program or continuing with the CISSP certification.  Thanks again for helping me attain this goal of earning a college degree!

Congrats! I can relate to what you wrote because I too wasted a lot of time upfront by letting time slip away. If I did not waste time scouring posts and waiting for things to get "easier" and instead started earlier then I would have probably secured a better catalog before TESU starting making even more changes.

[Supermind]

Congratulations!!! I am inspired by your persistence to finish the degree, even after 33 years. Well done! Belated birthday wishes to you as well! I too received my final grades for the April 2019 Capstone just a day before my birthday.
I am also surprised with your recommendation of Prof. Haydel. I have read earlier posts here that she tends to be very strict with her grading, and demands original research from her students. Good to know there is a different side to her as well.

Thanks all for the well wishes! Still walking around with a little extra pep in my step, even at my age!

@Supermind:
Prof. Haydel was very strict in the formatting of the writing, and a stickler for APA formatting in particular, in my opinion it was not unexpected.
In my experience, she did not give any ambiguous critiques or observations, only clear and direct suggestions to help make a great research project. She also graded me very fairly and generously. This was my first ever research paper and due to following her manual and her discussions, emails and phone calls I came out with a decent research paper that I am actually proud of. Prof. Haydel was nothing but encouraging and all in on my project and my classmates as well. I did not realize we actually had to do our own research until Mod 2, but it ended up making for a better research project. It was a lot of work as you know, but I am not so sure I would have done as well with another professor, my first time around. I am now confident enough in my writing and research abilities that I am not sweating any masters' programs in my near future.

That’s wonderful to know that studying under Prof. Haydel has given you immense confidence in academic writing. Very happy for you; I think confidence in academic writing, and a love for the research process are some of the biggest takeaways from this Capstone journey. In my group, Prof. Cody was extremely supportive, and kept the class engaged in the discussions by throwing newer questions, and commenting on our posts. In stark contrast to some posts I have read on this forum, regarding mentors who made them indefinitely wait for their grades, Prof. Cody was very consistent. He would always be ready with the grades the Wednesday/Thursday after we had submitted our assignments. And he also had a good eye for detail. His comments on each assignment proved to be so pertinent, and helped me really develop a very good final Capstone project. In my batch, there were 1-2 students, who had requested extra time to do original research and present their findings. I think it did not occur to many that original research is required for a Capstone, and that caused a bit of a stress as we progressed to assignments 3 & 4. Luckily, I had read some posts on this forum, and I had started conducting my original research from the get-go. So, my journey was less stressful. Overall, I am very thankful to Prof. Cody too. I have benefited immensely from his mentorship, and would highly recommend him to any future Capstone takers.

[bjcheung77]

Congrats! I am looking forward to reading about your future goals and the journey to your next adventure...