Marine flies high to earn his degree from Penn State Abington
Most people know the routine college graduation story: student graduates high school, begins college the following fall, attends classes for four (to five) years, graduates and enters the workforce. For Marine Staff Sergeant Jonathan Hill, however, the journey that brought him to graduation at Penn State Abington this spring has been anything but routine.
Hill, who will earn his bachelor's degree in business administration on Friday, May 12, took a few years away from school upon graduating high school in the mid-1990s, after which he enlisted in the Marines and attended boot camp in 1997. After four years stationed in Hawaii , Hill opted to take a course onsite at his base from Chaminade University . After transferring to Willow Grove Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base (NAS JRB) in 2002, he was deployed to North Carolina to train for Operation Iraqi Freedom but was not sent overseas.
He did, however, manage to squeeze in courses at two colleges while spending 12-hour days prepping for the possibility of going to war. Hill got his college career going in earnest at Coastal Carolina Community College and then Campbell University . After coming to Pennsylvania in 2004, he transferred to Montgomery County Community College , and later found a "home" at Penn State Abington.
"It was really tough early on putting in those long days in the Marine Corps and trying to fit courses into to my schedule," said Hill. "Classes were on the base in Hawaii and I couldn't take them except for Saturday. My supervisor wouldn't let me take 5:30 p.m. classes because I was still working. That was somewhat annoying, all the time we put in at work and I couldn't do that."
For the past two years at Penn State Abington, Hill has been a fulltime Marine in HMH (heavy Marine helicopter) Squadron 772 at Willow Grove NAS JRB, as well as a fulltime student. He works in the day, and takes classes at night, often stretching his time at work or school from 6:45 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. It has been especially challenging for his wife, Lesley, who spends the bulk of her time working as a staff accountant and raising the couple's two young boys.
"She's been a great help. She graduated from college the traditional way, but I kind of messed up in high school and wound up in the Marines, which taught me a great deal about leadership and responsibility," said Hill, who lives in military housing in Warminster.
Speaking of responsibility, Hill was in New Orleans two days after Hurricane Katrina hit helping to evacuate people displaced by the raging waters. After about a week of evacuations, Hill spend another three weeks moving displaced people to shelters and other sites, as well as supplies. It was one of the most challenging assignments the Marine has dealt with during his time in the military.
"It wasn't a very good scene, I guess. The main thing I remember was hearing about the race thing. There was no specific race we were evacuating. There were a lot of elderly people and sick people, but all I heard about when I got back was race," said Hill.
What helped Hill were the instructors at Penn State Abington, who worked with the Marine while he was in New Orleans so he would be ready to graduate on time.
"All the instructors were really good about that. I would send work by email or hand it in when I returned to Pennsylvania and there were no problems," he said. "I'm an avionics technician/aerial gunner on a CH-53 Helicopter, the biggest helicopter U.S. has, and I have been able to do my work while flying on those all the time. I chose Penn State because the schools I had gone to previously that were on our base seemed like they sent instructors who were hired from the local area and who put forth minimal effort. I'm an older student, and I'm not at Penn State to simply earn a degree—I want to learn."
Now, after nearly a decade in the Marines, Hill is set to leave the Marines on June 28 and use his business degree to get a job in the financial services industry. He's had two interviews with local companies and if he is successful in landing one, he plans to stay in the area.
"The Marine Corp. helped me grow and learn leadership, and now that I've got some ambition I'm ready to move on to other things," he said. Speaking of moving, Hill not only has to find another job, he has to find a place to live now that his time with the Marines is just about over.
"The stress level is not over now that I'm graduating—I have to find a job, take care of family, find a new place to live—the list goes on," he said. With his time in the Marines and his family to support him, Hill knows he'll get there.
"The long days and long hours in the Marines gave me a good work ethic, and my first son served as inspiration. It's the only way I could have started and finished college career," he said.
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Penn State Abington's Commencement is set for Friday, May 12, 2006, at 1:00 p.m., in the Physical Education Building on campus. Speaker is award-winning author Lorene Cary. Her book, The Price of a Child , was selected as Philadelphia 's choice for the One Book, One City reading program.