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>> MY NAME IS JOHN DE LAURENCE.
I'M FROM AUSTRALIA,
AND I'VE JUST COMPLETED
MY MASTER'S OF ARTS
AT CALSOUTHERN UNIVERSITY.
I USED TO WORK ORIGINALLY
AS A CHILD PROTECTION WORKER.
AND I USED TO DO A LOT OF
INVESTIGATION WORK
IN THAT REGARD,
AND THEN I WORKED IN THE
FIELD OF SUBSTITUTE CARE.
IN THAT SORT OF FIELD OF WORK,
THE MORE YOU DO IT, THE MORE YOU
REALIZE HOW MUCH YOU DON'T KNOW,
AND THAT STARTED ME
ON MY FIRST COURSE OF STUDY.
AS THE YEARS ROLLED BY, I BECAME
MORE AND MORE AWARE OF HOW MUCH
I NEEDED TO KNOW, SO I DID AN
INITIAL DEGREE IN PSYCHOLOGY,
WITH NO INTENTION OF BEING A
PSYCHOLOGIST, JUST TO ADD TO MY
KNOWLEDGE BASE.
AND THEN, FRIENDS AND EVEN
RELATIVES WHO WERE PRACTICING
PSYCHOLOGISTS SUGGESTED THAT
I GO TO THE NEXT STEP.
SO I STARTED TO LOOK AROUND.
WHAT COULD I DO?
WHAT WOULD SUIT MY LIFESTYLE?
I NEEDED SOMETHING THAT I COULD
DO ESSENTIALLY ONLINE,
ON MY TIME.
AND WHEN I SAY MY TIME, I'VE
INVADED ON MY FAMILY'S TIME
AS WELL BUT,
ESSENTIALLY SOMETHING WHERE I
COULD NOT LET MY PRACTICE
JUST GO DOWN THE PLUG HOLE.
I CAME ACROSS THIS PROGRAM.
THE THING THAT I FOUND HELPFUL
AND ATTRACTIVE ABOUT DOING THE
PROGRAM THROUGH CALSOUTHERN
WAS THAT I COULD PACE IT.
IT WAS ABOUT A PROGRAM THAT I
COULD STRUCTURE TO SUIT ME.
IT MET THOSE NEEDS.
IT WAS COMPETITIVELY
PRICED, TOO.
THE MATERIAL THAT I RECEIVED
FROM CAL SOUTHERN THROUGH THE
VARIOUS TEXT BOOKS RECOMMENDED
WERE ABSOLUTELY FIRST RATE.
I FEEL LIKE I'VE GOT A RESOURCE
LIBRARY NOW, THAT IS ENVIABLE,
VERY MUCH SO.
THE MENTORS THEMSELVES, I FOUND,
PROBABLY MOST OF THEM, VERY VERY
ENCOURAGING, AND VERY VERY
SUPPORTIVE, WHICH WAS NICE.
I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TO EXPECT,
AND ESPECIALLY HAVING NOT DONE
ANY STUDY FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS,
FINDING PEOPLE WHO WERE
SUPPORTIVE, ENCOURAGING AND
GIVING ME HELPFUL FEEDBACK
WAS VERY MUCH WELCOMED.
I FELT A VERY STRONG CONNECTION
AFTER THREE YEARS WITH THE
UNIVERSITY AND JUST BEING ABLE
TO TYPE IN AND GO ONLINE AS
STUDENT.
AND WHEN I OFFICIALLY WENT
OFFLINE AND WAS NO LONGER A
STUDENT, IT WAS, IT HIT ME.
IT WAS AN INTERESTING FEELING,
AND IT REALLY SHOWED ME HOW
MUCH, EVEN THOUGH I WAS A LONG
WAY AWAY, AND I HAD NEVER
ACTUALLY PHYSICALLY ATTENDED ANY
UNIVERSITY, HOW MUCH A PART OF
CALSOUTHERN I HAD STARTED
TO FEEL, I HAD, IN FACT,
I HAD FELT.
I HAVE TO SAY THE EXPERIENCE
AT CALSOUTHERN,
WAS VERY GOOD, AND
FUNNILY ENOUGH, I MISS IT NOW
THAT I'VE FINISHED.
I FEEL VERY GOOD ABOUT WHAT I'VE
BEEN ABLE TO DO OVER THE LAST
THREE YEARS, IN TERMS OF BEING
ABLE TO BUILD ON MY KNOWLEDGE
BASE AND BE ABLE TO BUILD
MY CONFIDENCE LEVELS.
AND I'M HAPPY TO BE HERE.
IT'S A FANTASTIC EXPERIENCE TO
BE STANDING HERE IN CALIFORNIA,
READY TO RECEIVE, I SUPPOSE,
THE ACCOLADES FOR THE WORK
THAT I'VE DONE.
IT'S A FANTASTIC EXPERIENCE.
AS FAR AS WHERE I'M GOING WITH
MY PRACTICE AND THINGS LIKE
THAT, I CAN SEE ALREADY THAT
THERE ARE GREAT BENEFITS FROM
THE INFORMATION
THAT I'VE ACQUIRED.
I FEEL LIKE I'VE GOT MY FINGERS
ON SO MANY DIFFERENT AREAS NOW.
SO MANY POSSIBILITIES OCCUR TO
ME, AS I'M LOOKING AT DIFFERENT
MATTERS, AND SO I THINK WHERE
I TAKE MY PRACTICE TO,
HOPEFULLY TO A BETTER PLACE,
IN TERMS OF WHAT I'VE LEARNED
THROUGH THIS PROGRAM.
I'VE LEARNED SOMETHING ELSE
ABOUT MYSELF AND THAT IS MY
ABILITY TO COMMIT AND THAT
YOU'RE NEVER TOO OLD,
HERE I'M 56 YEARS OF AGE,
AND YEAH, I'VE DONE IT.