Navy spouse, Nicole Lockwood said she is not sure what possessed her to sign up for a full load of classes at seven months pregnant, while working a full-time job. Three months later, her husband deployed for 14 months leaving her with a newborn and two older children.
What she does know is that she picked the right school to help her through the challenges.
“Everybody worked with me and my schedule. My teachers were amazing. I loved the flexibility,” she said.
Nicole, who recently earned her associate’s degree in criminal justice, said working with Bryant & Stratton has been easy since day one.
“I signed up for classes the same day I went to find out more about the school,” she said.
Returning to the classroom after initially leaving college several years ago has been easy in many ways, she said.
“Honestly, when I went to school after high school I struggled with it and left after a year and a half,” she said. “I went back to school [at Bryant & Stratton] three years later and went from being a C-student to a straight A-student.
“I had more focus. I had gotten all the stupid stuff out of my system and was able to focus more on what I really wanted to do,” she said.
Though Nicole expects her family to receive a new military assignment and move across country in the coming year, she is forging ahead with her academic plans. Next semester she will return to class to begin work on her bachelor’s degree and begin the steady march toward her dream job: working the social services side of the criminal justice system.
Her advice for students struggling to balance school work with the challenges of everyday life: “If you want it bad enough, you’ll make the best of what you can,” she said.
While her husband was away, Nicole said she had to do homework in her driveway because her internet connection didn’t work inside her home. So, she worked at night while her children slept and kept tabs on them via a baby monitor.
She has also completed her homework while on the road during one of her family’s military moves to a new duty station.
“If you want it, you’ll make sure you’re doing it,” she said. “It may stink while you’re doing it but the rewards are so worth it.”
