Photo By Spc. Jailene Bautista | U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer 2nd Class John Arthur Nelson, left, an Eden Prairie,...... read more read more
GREENBELT, Md. -- Who said you can't do both?
Two U.S. Coast Guardsmen have shown true determination and resiliency as they completed and graduated college while deployed at the Greenbelt Metro Community Vaccination Center in Greenbelt, Maryland.
“I never imagined I’d be finishing my degree on a deployment,” said U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer 2nd Class Meghan Kies, a registrant and screener assigned to Sector Virginia.
When Kies enrolled in college, her school accepted her Joint Service Transcript (JST) which used her military experience as college credits. Because of this, Kies was able to graduate at a faster than usual rate. She took it upon herself to continue working her civilian job and fulfilling her duties as a Coast Guard Reservist while attending school virtually.
“Time management and being organized is critical,” said Kies.
At this vaccination center, service members have been able to exceed vaccination expectations. With the site being extremely successful, service members get every 4th day of their work week off to reset. This is when Kies dedicates days off to schoolwork and uses it to her advantage.
“The fact that I had days off so I could focus on my coursework gave me a sense of pride, knowing I could keep my life on track while working on this mission,” said U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer 2nd Class John Arthur Nelson, also a registrant and screener assigned to Sector Virginia.
Nelson took a similar approach to Kies by saving his course load for his days off. He emphasized the reason he took this approach is because he wanted to be able to give both the vaccination center and his schoolwork the attention it deserves without letting the other suffer.
“I’m lucky because when I got deployed here, it directly aligned with my last class,” said Kies.
Kies and Nelson were both informed of their deployment as they were starting their last classes. However, both Coast Guardsmen did their due diligence and organized their time extremely well. This mission did not throw them off, it furthered their skills in time management. Kies states the military makes it very possible to finish school while serving. She believes it is a benefit every service member should be taking advantage of.
“Programs like tuition assistance and the G.I. Bill makes it very accessible for service members to pursue an education,” said Nelson.
Using tuition assistance, their JST and G.I. Bill, Nelson and Kies advanced their education while supporting the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) with the whole-of-government response to COVID-19.
“I’m glad I made it because now my days off are genuinely days off!” said Nelson.
Congratulations to Meghan Kies for graduating from the American Military University with a Bachelor’s of Applied Science in Technical Management with a Concentration in Project Management and John Nelson for graduating Liberty University with a Bachelor’s of Science in Interdisciplinary Studies-Homeland Security and Business.
| Date Taken: | 05.23.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 05.24.2021 14:42 |
| Story ID: | 397158 |
| Location: | GREENBELT, MARYLAND, US |
| Web Views: | 104 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, U.S. Coast Guardsmen go above and beyond to graduate college as they continue to vaccinate thousands of Marylanders, by SPC Jailene Bautista, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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