FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. -- As technology continues to evolve, it becomes easier for non-traditional students to fulfill their dreams of obtaining a college education. Though the methods of earning a degree have changed, the time-honored tradition of a graduation ceremony has not. And while the cap and gown is not the motivating force behind years of classes and homework, many see it as a proud punctuation mark at the end of one of life's important chapters.
Sadly, some students find themselves unable to participate in their graduation ceremonies -- especially in the military community. Work, Family, deployments and permanent change of station moves are but a few of the roadblocks which might prohibit students from making the trip to their respective campuses. For a second year in a row, Fort Campbell's Glenn H. English Jr. Army Education Center has worked to accommodate installation students in this situation.
Friday morning, friends and Family members gathered at Wilson Theater for a collective graduation ceremony. Soldiers, Family members and civilians with ties to the Fort Campbell community -- recently graduated or within 12 semester hours of graduating from an accredited college -- got the opportunity to don their mortarboards and share their accomplishments with loved ones.
Eighty graduates participated in the ceremony, receiving associate, bachelor and master degrees from 22 different accredited institutions. The numbers reflect an increase in the ceremony's popularity with a 65 percent increase in graduates since last year's event.
"Today is a celebration of many personal successes," said Lawrence Buford, Educational Services officer. "These graduates have been deployed, have taken care of their Families and have endured and overcome many other challenging circumstances."
Specialist Megan Bohannon, an intelligence analyst with the 5th Special Forces Group, endured many challenging circumstances along her road to higher education. Chosen to be the ceremony's student speaker, the Soldier, newlywed and new mother shared her story.
"George Eliot once asked 'Do we not call rapid thought and noble impulse by the name of inspiration?' I guess my psychiatrist never read George Eliot because today, rapid thought is considered mental illness," said Bohannon. "I say this because a couple of months ago, I was hospitalized while in my final week before graduating."
Bohannon recalled three days worth of pleading with the nurse to obtain access to a computer in order to post her last required assignment for school.
"What I didn't tell her is that it had taken me nine years to get my degree," she said. "That I had given up my Family, my friends, became homeless and eventually enlisted in the United States Army to finally have this piece of paper."
Eventually diagnosed with bi-polar and Post Traumatic Stress disorders, Bohannon said she was told her days in the Army were numbered.
"But I refused to accept the diagnosis," she said. "I'm no crazier than the next paratrooper. Airborne!"
A retired colonel from the Army Dental Corps, Dr. Ernest J. DeWald, DDS, was on-hand to congratulate the nontraditional students as the event's guest speaker.
"This is where the ivory tower of book-learning stops and the graduate school of hard knocks begins," he told the graduates. "It is where you must make a conscious effort to either laze about in your current state or leave the womb of school and venture into the real world."
Though DeWald assured the graduates that they had worked hard to build a foundation for the future, he advised them to not "stop with the basement when you can build a skyscraper."
"You have been spoon-fed the knowledge; now get the wisdom," he told them. "What's the difference? Let's look at knowledge as knowing that a tomato is a fruit. And wisdom is knowing not to put it into a fruit salad."
Smiles were abundant as graduates and Families exited the theater. Sgt. 1st Class Edwin Soto, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 21st Engineer Battalion, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, was immediately smothered with hugs from his wife, two children and his parents following the event.
"I've been working on this for 10 years," said Soto, who received a bachelor's in military science from Excelsior College. "It's a great success and it feels great to have my Family here, and my wife. Being able to graduate after 10 years of working hard, it feels good."
"We weren't able to go to the New York campus, so I think it's awesome that they have this for people who can't go," said Soto's wife, Mayra. "His parents flew in from Puerto Rico just for this graduation. That's something else we're grateful for."
From high school girlfriend to Army wife to mother, Mayra has been with Edwin every step of the way and says she was honored to be part of such an important event.
"I am so, so proud of him," she said. "This means a lot to the Family and today is a great day."
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