UC students put education on hold for Army service
Students learn to juggle military, school obligations
Earning a college degree takes hard work, persistence and time.
But some students put service to their country before their own academic ambitions.
Several student veterans at the University of Cincinnati are putting their education on hold for the next year to serve in active duty in the military.
UC Blue Ash student Caitlyn Crawford is a combat medic in the U.S. Army National Guard. She finished 10 weeks of combat training and 16 weeks of intensive medical training. Soldiers refer to the position as “68 Whiskey.”
“I work better under pressure. I have a personality where, when things get stressful, I can think clearly,” she said.
Crawford wants to study nursing with a specialty in trauma medicine. For now she will have to defer those plans while she joins her unit in Washington, D.C., for the next year as part of her six-year military commitment.
Crawford’s mom passed away when she was a child, so she said it was especially hard when at age 17 she asked her dad’s permission to enlist in the Army.
“My dad was hesitant. It was definitely hard to make a decision like that, especially with the job I chose,” she said. “It was tough on him, but it was something I really wanted to do and I thought really hard about it.”
About 3% of UC graduates are veterans or dependents of veterans. UC’s Office of Veterans Programs and Services works to help students make the adjustment to academic life.
UC student Marshawn Amison is both the first in his family to serve in the military and the first to go to college. After serving in the U.S. Army National Guard for the past five years, he renewed a four-year contract.
He operates a mobile vehicle that fires surface-to-air Stinger missiles. Amison, too, will spend the next year on active duty in Washington, D.C.
Joining the military was a very good decision for me. It gave me skills that will stick with me forever.
Caitlyn Crawford, UC Blue Ash student
Amison is accustomed to planning his academic life around drills and other obligations. This won’t be the first time he has put college on hold. Amison was deployed to Iraq before returning to the regional campus UC Blue Ash.
“My mom didn’t want me to join the military, but I was 18. I told her she could come with me if she wanted to,” he joked. “She was nervous when I went to Iraq, but that’s to be expected.
“I didn’t run into any crazy things there. Every day was pretty much the same,” Amison said.
Amison was determined to come to UC after he graduated from high school in a suburb of Cincinnati.
“I wasn’t the best student, but I knew I was smart enough to go to college,” Amison said. “But how was I going to pay for it? I had a recruiter come and tell me about the benefits of the Army National Guard.”
Amison was accepted into UC’s College of Engineering and Applied Science where he wants to study civil engineering. The college will hold his position until his return, he said.
And he knows he’s not alone.
“I know a lot of student veterans at UC. We have a program at UC Blue Ash called the ‘smoke pit’ where student veterans can talk to a licensed therapist about what’s going on. They help with the daily stress, being able to talk to people who have been through the same things you’ve been through,” he said. “It’s a nice environment to talk about anything you want without anyone judging you.”
Both Amison and Crawford said they will be counting the days to their return to campus.
“For me, school has always been the most important thing,” Amison said.
Crawford agreed, saying she hopes to take online classes during her mission to the nation’s capital.
“My plan is to come back to UC, where I hope to pick right up and apply to the nursing program,” she said. “Joining the military was a very good decision for me. It gave me skills that will stick with me forever.”
Featured image at top: UC Blue Ash student Marshawn Amison will spend the next year in serving in active duty in the U.S. Army in Washington, D.C.
Become a Bearcat
Whether you’re a first-generation student or from a family of Bearcats, UC is proud to support you at every step along your journey. We want to make sure you succeed — and feel right at home.
Related Stories
UC Day of Giving kicks off with celebration of scholarship gift
April 15, 2021
UC Day of Giving is kicked off with an important scholarship gift for nursing and engineering.
Neil Armstrong UC Forward Innovation Award 2021 winners announced
April 13, 2021
Team of three undergraduate students from different disciplines excel in an innovation course at the University of Cincinnati.
UC engineering students recognized for achievement in cooperative education
April 12, 2021
Top students in engineering cooperative education for 2020-21
Futuristic cars may soon take flight
April 28, 2021
The Cincinnati Innovation District and University of Cincinnati team up with partners in 1819 Innovation Hub DriveOhio, Cincinnati Bell and Microsoft to innovate with UC talent and help bring future innovation within reach in FlyOhio student challenge.
New UC collaboration focuses on senses
May 25, 2021
The University of Cincinnati has launched a new institute to study sensing in all its forms, from human and animal senses to the sensor technologies that enable our modern lifestyles and provide medical care.
U.S. News top grad school rankings include several UC programs
March 30, 2021
Several graduate school programs at UC improve in latest U.S. News and World Report rankings, including from nursing, medicine, engineering, criminal justice, law and business.
UC holds first Women of Color in Engineering Summer Camp
September 9, 2020
A new camp was launched this summer at the University of Cincinnati that aims to inspire more girls to pursue STEM. The Women of Color in Engineering Camp hosted 29 high school students for the week-long virtual camp.
UC Simulation Center Student Profiles
July 19, 2021
A glimpse into the background of students working at the Sim Center
What are common misconceptions about engineering?
From expertise in math to being a creative problem solver, Teri Reed explains myths and misconceptions about engineering and why you should be an engineer!
Science Daily: Bat calls contain redundant information
July 20, 2021
UC assistant professor Dieter Vanderelst in UC's College of Arts and Sciences and College of Engineering and Applied Science digitally compressed the echoes of Mexican free-tailed bats and found they lost little valuable information.