Guide to Online Education > Online Education In-Depth > Meet Real Online Students > Lawrence, Master of Public Administration
He was later assigned as the First Lieutenant (a Department Head tour) onboard the USS Mobile in Long Beach. After six months and having re-qualified for all of his watch stations, he put in a request to sit for his Surface Warfare Officer board and got it in 1988.
Name: Lawrence McKeough
Age: 57
Marital Status: Married
Children: Four
Current Location: Missouri
Advice to Online Students: "..don't interfere with family time, and everyone is happy."
School: American Military University
Target: Master of Public Administration in Disaster & Emergency Management, 2008
“I declined the orders and cross-decked to another ship in Long Beach so my kids could graduate and not have to move,” he says.
“Although I thought it was the right thing to do, I think I derailed my career a bit by turning down those orders and going to a smaller ship instead.” From 1989 to 1991, he reported to the USS Roanoke and then served as the Port Services Officer back in Long Beach before being selected as the Director of Emergency Services.
Leaving the Military
During his last two and one-half years in the Navy, he was the Director of Emergency Services for the naval station in Long Beach. His plan was to stay there on Shore Duty and then retire. Unexpectedly, he was thrust into the position and had to deal with events such as the Landers-Big Bear earthquake and Los Angeles riots of 1992, and the Northridge earthquake and Texaco refinery explosion in 1994.
“All of these events affected Navy families or our Navy community in some way, so I saw a new calling and decided, after retiring, to try to stay in this field,” he says.
That is why he completed his B.S. in Disaster and Emergency Management, as he had 10 years after retirement to use his G.I. Bill. “I was fairly close to finishing my degree, so I thought I would go for it,” he says.
Earning a Higher Degree
That drive has gotten him to American Military University, where he is pursuing his MPA with a concentration in Disaster and Emergency Management. At the time, he was working for a city in southern California as an emergency services director. He found the MPA program and decided to move to Missouri to be closer to his son and his son's family.
Lawrence enjoys online learning and says it fits in well with his schedule. After work, he goes home to spend time with his family. After the children go to bed, he spends a few hours a night completing homework assignments.
“I don't interfere with family time, and everyone is happy,” he says. Usually once or twice during a course, he has to take a mid-term or final, which he completes early on a Saturday or late at night: “A win-win for everyone.”
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