草莓社区

Searching for the Right School

Gatlin鈥檚 college search began soon after she completed her military service, when she began taking online and evening courses at various colleges around Chicago. As a new mom and working professional, Gatlin initially found it challenging to find a program that could meet her needs logistically while still offering a high-quality professional foundation that would allow her to advance her career. 鈥淚 had tried a few online programs, but they didn鈥檛 really meet my needs at the time,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 decided I would wait until I found a program that really suited me, and that鈥檚 when I found SCPS.鈥� 

Attending Loyola

As a student in SCPS鈥檚 program, Gatlin quickly recognized that Loyola offered a sense of community and flexibility that stood in sharp contrast with her past experiences at other institutions. 鈥淚 liked the fact that it was tailored toward working adults,鈥� she said. 鈥淲hen I first came to Loyola, I felt more at ease and more comfortable than I had previously. There were so many people from different areas of the school reaching out to walk you through everything step-by-step.鈥� 

Gatlin has also found that her peers, many of whom are also Veterans and working professionals, are often eager to connect and support one another. Despite the online format of many of her classes, 鈥渢he community that you build is really, really excellent,鈥� she said. 鈥淵ou'll meet other veterans who have had some of the same experiences as you had, and then you also have people who are in their professional lives and decided they want to shift gears and go back to school.鈥� 

Support for Veterans

For Gatlin, perhaps the biggest differentiating factor between Loyola and her prior experiences at other institutions is the support offered by Loyola鈥檚 Military Veterans Student Services, particularly when it comes to helping Veterans and military affiliated students navigate their educational benefits. 鈥淎s a Veteran who鈥檚 transitioning from activity duty, you don鈥檛 want to go somewhere where the Veteran鈥檚 office doesn鈥檛 understand your benefits,鈥� she said. 鈥淟oyola really does have people who are educated and understand what we have gone through, what we need, and often understand our benefits better that we do.鈥� 

Looking ahead, Gatlin plans to leverage the skills she gained in her program to work towards her goal of owning and operating her own business. She also encourages other Veterans considering Loyola to take the leap. 鈥淵ou want people who will rally around you and give you the support that you need and actually appreciate the service and the sacrifice that you made,鈥� she said. 鈥淭his is where you should be. You're not going to find a better school.鈥�