Guide to Online Education > Online Education In-Depth > Meet Real Online Students > Chuck, B.A. in Criminal Justice
As an active duty member of the armed forces, it is more than a little inconvenient to attend college. Especially if you are stationed in a remote area. If distance education were not an option, Charles says, he'd probably never get his degree. Or, at least it would have taken him a lot longer to start.
Name: Charles Hall
Age: 30
Marital Status: Married
Current Location: Alaska
Personal Quote: "There have been many times when I've stayed up until 3 a.m. doing schoolwork, slept for a couple of hours, then had to wake up, go to work, and do it all over again."
School: Ohio Dominican University
Target: B.A. in Criminal Justice, 2008
But he is on track to receive his Bachelor of Arts in Criminal Justice in just one more year, sometime in 2008. He takes classes far from the Ohio home where he grew up, and far from the school he began way back when.
He attends Ohio Dominican University on his home computer. In Alaska.
As a life support technician, he is responsible for the maintenance and periodic inspection of ejection gear—parachutes, survival vests, seat cushions—anything that would be required if the plane malfunctioned and a pilot needed to “punch out”, say, above the Indian Ocean. Charles is a man who is used to dotting his “i's” and crossing his “t's.” He is accustomed to accountability. He is familiar with rigorous deadlines.
Still returning to school online is a big challenge. Keeping up with the demands of the program has been difficult.
“They are typical college courses,” he says of his schoolwork. “But they are condensed into 8 weeks instead of 15 weeks.”
The accelerated format means that he has had to juggle full-time work, deployments, and family commitments with an extraordinarily demanding school schedule. It hasn't been easy.
“It's rewarding though,” he says with a smile.
When he receives his grades and sees that his hard work has been recognized with an A or B, it is satisfying. “I'm doing two things I like at the same time.”
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