Day in the Life: A Gupton Student Perspective
We asked a treasured alumni member to provide her perspective as a Gupton College student. We hope you enjoy and find this as helpful as we did.
A day in the life of a John A. Gupton College student is both exciting and exhausting. It is a decision one must understand will take complete dedication and determination to succeed. Some feel this profession is simply a calling, others think it is recession-proof and practical, while the rest are simply following their family roots. Regardless of the reasons you decide to become a John A. Gupton College student, the truth of the matter is that this field is fitting for many and provides a long-lasting and rewarding career to most.
The average day of learning is typical of any other college, except, instead of drafting a 10-page paper, you are trying to retain a mass amount of essential information in a short amount of time. The point of enrolling into John A. Gupton College is to become a licensed funeral director and/or an embalmer, but this is not obtainable unless you can pass two sections of the National Board Exam, this is why choosing the right funeral service school is so important. As a John A. Gupton College student, you will be tested weekly over information that will most certainly be on your National Board exams. Once you have passed the standard curriculum, you will be tested yet again in the last course required, Comprehensive Review. Mastering the Comprehensive Review course will give you the confidence to feel fully prepared to pass both the arts and science sections of the National Board Exam.
Some students think learning to become a funeral director and embalmer means practicing the job itself: working the services or spending a lot of time in the preparation room, but there is so much more involved in becoming a licensed professional. As stated previously, the education behind the actual job is pertinent, because without passing the National Board Exam you will not become licensed. That said, there are two courses that most students absolutely love, and that’s the hands-on training courses, Practicum and Mortuary Science Embalming Clinicals. These courses provide an inside look at what it is like to work at a funeral home, which is the goal. This could also be the breaking point at which some students decide that this is not what they want to do. Either way, the practicum and mortuary science clinical courses are one of the best ways to know if the funeral profession is truly for you.
Being a John A. Gupton College student has been one of the best decisions I have ever made. It has given me an outlook on life that I do not believe I could have gotten from any other profession. The job itself is a lot like being a student at John A. Gupton College, demanding yet rewarding in so many aspects. Becoming a part of the funeral service profession means to serve the public with unwavering commitment and compassion when they are at their most vulnerable, even when it’s pass your 40/hour work week, it means sharing holidays with grieving families you have the pleasure to serve, and it means sometimes giving more time and energy to the dead rather than the living. It is hard for some to understand, but for a John A. Gupton College student it is just another day.
—Melissa Bond
John A. Gupton College Alumni