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My educational journey: However long it takes, just keep going!

  • Published
  • By Marnie Rummell-Meyer
  • Education Office
TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  My education journey started in high school. I knew I wanted to go to college, I just didn't know what I wanted to major in. I decided I wanted to attend Oklahoma State University because it was far enough away that I could live in the dorms and get the full college experience but close enough to home that I could come home on the weekends. As my parents did not have the money to send me to college (my dad earned $50 too much a year for me to qualify for free lunches in high school), it was up to me to get scholarships to pay for school. I had an excellent counselor who helped me tremendously. Between scholarships, grants, and work study, my entire freshman year -- including the dorm and meal plan -- were paid for. That year I even figured out that I wanted to pursue a degree in geography. I was hoping to become a cartographer or any other job dealing with maps.

And then my sophomore year of college happened. Without the assistance of my fantastic high school guidance counselor, I didn't have any of the much needed scholarships to help pay for school. Please keep in mind this was before the internet was prevalent, even before most people had a basic computer in their house. I had no idea where to look for potential scholarships or who to turn to for help. I had to move closer to home to cut down on costs and attend the rival university as it was only half an hour from my parents' house. I started my sophomore year at the University of Oklahoma majoring in geography. I had some fantastic professors who brought the subject alive for me. Academically, I truly thrived at OU. However, working three jobs to pay for school and carrying a full load of classes took its toll on me, so I enlisted in the Air Force Reserve to help pay for school.

My tech school was only supposed to be three months long, so I was only planning to miss one semester of school, but the Air Force had other ideas. My guaranteed job was merged with several others while I was in basic training and my three month tech school became a nine month tech school. There wasn't much I could do about it, but I would miss an entire year of school rather than just a semester. Then fate stepped in again: I got married two months after I graduated from tech school and my husband had orders to Germany. At first I felt lucky because Bitburg Air Base had the University of Maryland, but I ended up being not so lucky. Since my husband was only an E-2/3, we couldn't afford for me to go, nor did we know where to turn for financing. Needless to say, I didn't return to school. After a year of working at the base pizza parlor and off base at an insurance agency, I decided to go active duty to have the Air Force pay 75 percent of my tuition.

Once I was on active duty and had completed my upgrade training, I was ready to take advantage of tuition assistance and start school again. Unfortunately, neither the University of Maryland nor any of the other on-base schools offered a degree in geography at Bitburg AB or neighboring Spangdahlem AB. I decided to take some more general education courses (these were the days before a degree plan was required), but I had another stumbling block. My supervisor said I could attend school, but I still had to work my shifts. That would have been okay if my schedule didn't change from week to week. I would have had to miss a third of my classes, and I was not comfortable missing that much class. So, since I could not go to school during the week, I had to take weekend classes. Needless to say I felt like I was getting nowhere fast on my education journey!!

After I took every available weekend course, with a heavy heart I decided to leave Germany and return to the United States so I could finish my degree. I received an assignment to Seymour Johnson AFB in North Carolina. I was excited to be returning to school but discovered a problem when I arrived in North Carolina: a degree in geography was not offered at any of the schools near the base. The closest school that offered it was East Carolina University, more than an hour from my house. That just wasn't going work, so reluctantly I enrolled at Mt. Olive College and changed my major to business administration. I figured a degree in business wasn't going to hurt me.

While I was working on my bachelor's degree, and talking to an education specialist at the Base Education Office while applying for TA, I discovered I was only a few classes shy of my CCAF degree. Mt. Olive had an early version of the ABC program, allowing me to complete my CCAF and then get a Bachelor of Applied Science in Business Administration, which knocked three courses off what I would have needed if I hadn't finished my CCAF. I was a Fall 1997 CCAF graduate, and the following spring I graduated with my bachelor's degree -- it only took me 13 years from start to finish! The final years were tough as I now had a little one and was still on active duty. I was pregnant with my second son when I walked across the stage at Mt. Olive College.

For some people this would be the end of the journey, but I wanted to continue with school. After my youngest son was born, I left the military and went to work for the Post Office. I had thought it was tough trying to go to school while on active duty, but I found it impossible to do while working for the Post Office. I was working six days a week and leaving for work at 0230 in the morning. After four years, I was able to transfer from a clerk position, to a city carrier position, which meant no more extremely early mornings. However now I was out in the North Carolina heat and humidity all day, with no opportunity to cool down all day. As any of the maintainers on the line know, that heat wears you out! I was still working six days a week and, due to manpower issues, frequently had to work ten or even 12 hours a day. The paychecks were fantastic, but I had no time or energy for school.

In 2007, my husband received orders to England and we left the US for the UK. I decided that was the time to use what I could of my Montgomery GI Bill before it expired. Within three months of arriving in England, I started working on my Master of Human Relations with OU. I was able to complete all but six credit hours of my master's using my Montgomery GI Bill. I paid for my remaining credits myself and was awarded my Master of Human Relations degree in May 2010. Shortly after starting my master's, I started working in the Education Office, and I found a job I truly enjoyed. However, in order to move up in the education office, I needed 24 hours of courses in education. Having associate, bachelor's and master's degrees wasn't enough; I also need 24 credit hours in the education field.

After taking three months off from school, in September 2010 I began working on a second bachelor's degree. I had found an accelerated adult education program and decided if I need to take 24 credit hours to advance in Air Force education, I might as well take 36 and earn another degree. In May 2011, I graduated with a second bachelor's degree. This degree has allowed me to work as an education services specialist at the Tinker AFB Education Office. I hope to advance in my chosen career field, and hopefully return overseas one day. I'm also not sure if my formal education journey is over yet. I've contemplated getting a second master's degree or even perhaps -- just maybe -- my PhD.