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Turning 60, Celebrating 40 years of Marriage & Completing Her Degree – All in the Same Month!
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Turning 60, Celebrating 40 years of Marriage & Completing Her Degree – All in the Same Month!
Attending Commencement is One of Three Milestones For Peg Ugolick in October TRENTON, N.J. (October 5, 2009) —When it comes to milestones, Peg Ugolick might have cornered the market for the month of October.In the first three weeks of this month, she will turn 60, celebrate her 40th wedding anniversary and receive her college diploma after more than 20 years of pursuing her education. On Oct. 4, Ugolick and her husband, Paul, who live in Mount Laurel, N.J., celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary. Ugolick will receive her college diploma on Oct. 10 at Thomas Edison State College’s 37th annual Commencement in Trenton, N.J. And to top things off, she celebrates her 60th birthday on Oct. 17.
“Attending Commencement falls right between two big events in my life,” said Ugolick, a payroll, pension and benefits coordinator for the Moorestown Board of Education. “Just like in my dreams, I will finally walk forward to receive my college diploma. What a ride it has been!”
That ride started in 1988, when she first enrolled at Burlington County College. Ugolick juggled going to class while raising four children and working full-time. She earned her associates degree in 1995. Even though work and caring for her family kept Ugolick busy, she managed to return to school in 2006 when she enrolled at Thomas Edison State College.
“I was very excited to learn about Thomas Edison State College,” she recalled. “The possibility of earning my bachelor’s degree was now a reality. The college’s distance-learning format afforded me the opportunity to continue with my family and work responsibilities while earning college credits.”
Ugolick, who completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in Liberal Studies, said support from her family helped her finish the online courses, which demanded a different type of focus than classroom-based courses.
“The online program is hard work that requires discipline and determination,” she said. “My husband, our children and 10 grandchildren have cheered me on throughout the entire process. I know my husband’s heart will be pounding as hard as mine on Oct. 10. He has walked beside me and held me up when I was ready to quit. It was quite a ride, but I am glad I did it.”
Ugolick will join approximately 375 graduates from 26 states and Saudi Arabia who are planning to travel to the War Memorial in Trenton to accept their diplomas at the College’s 37th Annual Commencement ceremony, which begins at 2 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 10, 2009.
The College will award more than 2,500 degrees in 2009 and has awarded more than 34,000 degrees since it began providing flexible, high-quality, collegiate learning opportunities for self directed adults in 1972.
About Thomas Edison State College
Thomas Edison State College provides flexible, high-quality, collegiate learning opportunities for self-directed adults. One of New Jersey’s 12 senior public institutions of higher education, the College offers associate, bachelor’s and master’s degrees in more than 100 areas of study. Students earn degrees through a wide variety of rigorous and high-quality academic methods that can be customized to meet their individual needs. Identified by Forbes magazine as one of the top 20 colleges and universities in the nation in the use of technology to create learning opportunities for adults, Thomas Edison State College is a national leader in the assessment of adult learning and a pioneer in the use of educational technologies. The College is home to The John S. Watson Institute for Public Policy. The New Jersey State Library is an affiliate of Thomas Edison State College. Further information about admission to the College may be obtained by calling (888) 442-8372, via e-mail at info@tesc.edu or by visiting the College Web site at www.tesc.edu.
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