In every sense, Karen Rana is the embodiment of “keep moving forward.”
At 56, the Houma native is thriving in her first semester of graduate school, having recently earned her B.S. in Kinesiology, Health Promotion and Wellness online from the University of ֱ at Lafayette.
Her path was not simple or straight, but it was rich in experiences that Rana says she intends to use in teaching and helping others.
Starting – and stopping
But life happened, and she withdrew from the program to prioritize her family.
“I stepped back from the school thing,” she says. “I raised my kids and then five years ago, I said ‘I'm going back.’”
Initially, she pursued nursing again. Although she excelled in the program, she became less confident that nursing was the field for her.
During a chance conversation at the gym, a University employee suggested Rana look up the Health Promotion and Wellness degree program through UL Lafayette. The more she learned, Rana says, the more she felt the program was custom-made for her.
“I immediately got online and applied,” she says. “Boom, boom, boom. I started and I have gone nonstop.”
Finding the right fit
The program checked more boxes for Rana than she could have hoped. Health Promotion and Wellness allowed her to build on her fitness background, develop specialized skills, and bring her expertise to new opportunities.
“I want to promote health in any way that I can,” she says.
Rana was intimidated returning to pursue her bachelor’s degree in her early 50s, but says her instructors put her at ease.
“Going back all the way to undergraduate, it’s intimidating, but I never felt that with the online teachers,” she says. “I was always included. I never felt like I was just the old person in the class.”
Health Promotion and Wellness is a tight-knit program and Rana noticed early on how much attention and patience instructors and administrators had for students, particularly her advisor, Lisa LeBlanc.
“I can’t say enough about her as an instructor. She went above and beyond to get me where I am now,” she says. “[She made me feel like] there was never a stupid question.”
For Rana, professors not only demonstrated what it would look like to work in health education, but they set an example of how to support students as individuals.
“I said ‘I'm going to go get my master’s and come back and teach because I love these people,’” Rana says.
Staying flexible
Before transferring to UL Lafayette, Rana had never taken online courses. She loved how much control she had over her work-life balance and how she could still be present for her children as they navigated adolescence.
“I wanted to go back to school, but I didn’t want to jeopardize my children and what they needed,” she says. “I could not have done this if I were expected to be in class every day, because kids happen, things happen. You know, I could sit home with a sick kid and still get my work done.”
For her senior capstone internship, Rana worked for the ֱ Public Health Institute and contributed to projects for the “Tobacco Free Living” campaign and “Little Free Pantry” grants.
Rana was surprised and impressed with how clearly the concepts in her courses were reflected in her responsibilities as an intern. There seemed to be sink-or-swim learning curves in her internship, but she was prepared for everything that came her way.
"I felt extremely prepared to do what I was expected to do in my internship," she says. "Everything I learned in school is real life. It plays out exactly as we were taught."
Looking ahead
Rana was accepted and began working toward her M.S. in Health Education and Behavior in January 2022.
She says she feels prepared to work in nonprofit roles or the private sector, but her ultimate goal before retirement is to teach health promotion and wellness to others.
"If I can contribute to at least one student how my instructors — Lisa LeBlanc, Elizabeth LaPointe, and Dr. Susan Lyman — helped me, then I will feel fulfilled.”