It's Time to Get Moving on your Education, Soldier!

By MAJ Choli Ence

As the memories from this summer fade away to the blaring sound of the alarm clock, I wanted to take a minute to reflect on the importance of education.  

Prior to deploying with my unit to Afghanistan, MG Jefferson Burton, Adjutant General of Utah, told me to make sure I came back from this deployment a better person than when I left. For me, I immediately knew this meant I needed to continue with my education.

Admittedly, I have put off pursuing a master’s degree for some time now, always finding some excuse as to why I should wait.  Perhaps my favorite excuses were the lack of excess time in my life and the lack of a monetary incentive by my civilian employer to even have a degree.

Upon arrival to Kandahar, I quickly realized I was going to be even busier than before. I thought hard about just blowing off the whole college thing to just focus on my job as a public affairs officer and commander. 

One night, as I walked back to my room around midnight, I realized that this was going to be a really long deployment if all I did was work and sleep. It was at that point I knew I needed to push myself or I was going to come home with regrets. I won’t say it has been easy and I have certainly spent a lot of long hours writing research papers and forum posts. However, I can honestly tell MG Burton I came home a better person.

As a commander, I have strongly encouraged all the Soldiers in my unit to pursue their education goals. As I have told several Soldiers, don’t let a lack of education be the reason you don't get something in life. I know a college degree won’t always land you the dream job or make you a millionaire. But what a college degree does give you is a choice and an opportunity to land your dream job or become a millionaire. 

You know, I have heard of many regrets from people I have met, but no one has ever said they regret getting educated. 

As this school years kicks off, remember learning and education is a lifelong pursuit, regardless of your age.