{"id":667,"date":"2020-01-28T20:15:56","date_gmt":"2020-01-28T20:15:56","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.umflint.edu\/som\/?p=667"},"modified":"2021-03-05T15:02:41","modified_gmt":"2021-03-05T15:02:41","slug":"flying-through-school-a-journey-from-civilian-student-to-second-lieutenant-in-the-u-s-air-force","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.umflint.edu\/som\/2020\/01\/28\/flying-through-school-a-journey-from-civilian-student-to-second-lieutenant-in-the-u-s-air-force\/","title":{"rendered":"Flying through School: A Journey from Civilian Student to Second Lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By<\/em><\/strong> <\/strong>Alexis Menard<\/strong><\/a> On January 28, 2020 3:15 pm<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Veronica Hindelang ’20, BBA in Finance <\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Veronica Hindelang (\u201820) isn\u2019t your typical college student at the University of Michigan-Flint. This unique college student set out to complete her undergraduate and graduate education in less than four years. Currently, Hindelang is a senior studying Finance for her Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA), and in less than three months from now, she will be walking the commencement stage only to jump in a week later into the MBA program at UM-Flint.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even more ambitious, Hindelang\u2019s long-term goal is going into the United States Air Force first as a Second Lieutenant and continue to make rank after her commission. After deciding to pursue a career in the Air Force, she realized the value of pursuing her education so that one day she could become an officer. \u201cI chose the Air Force as I was most familiar with the branch,\u201d said Hindelang. Her father is an Air Force Veteran and served for 22 years. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

To become an officer in the Air Force requires Hindelang to complete the Reserve Officers Training Corps – and the University of Michigan was on her radar. She quickly found out that she could still participate in the program while attending UM-Flint. \u201cI opted for the branch that was closest to home, more affordable, and with a better student to faculty ratio,\u201d Hindelang continues, \u201cAfter some time in my field, I will be required to obtain a master\u2019s degree to continue to make rank, as do all other military officers. I believe that completing my masters now while I am in a situation with advantageous resources and propelling motivation would be best. My ability and readiness to pursue and successfully complete my education are at a peak.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The senior from Frankenmuth, MI states, \u201cThe military, as I believe, would provide me with valuable and unique experiences that the civilian sector could not. There are opportunities and benefits I would like to pursue, and in my experience so far, I’ve met wonderful people, traveled to interesting places, and have seen a change in myself for the better.\u201d Veronica explains that she plans on exploring careers as either a pilot, combat systems officer, remote pilot, or an air battle manager and \u201cthe Air Force seems to be a good fit and right place to do it.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Joining the military is a selfless act for your country and Hindelang advises those interested in enlisting to consider that \u201ceducation is very important for every rank in the military. You never stop learning. Reaching out to people and learning together can teach you a lot about others and yourself.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even though she found a college that could fulfill her unique needs for completing a Bachelor of Business Administration degree in under two years, she still ran into some normal roadblocks. Hindelang stated, \u201cIt was difficult to make connections in the beginning when I was touching bases with different departments to complete my gen ed courses but after settling in the School of Management to complete my core classes, I\u2019ve met a wonderful group of faculty and students. I feel supported and focused in my direction.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fast-tracking a degree is never an easy task and comes with challenges that SOM staff and faculty continue to support Hindelang with. \u201cI am extremely grateful for my Academic Advisor, Brenda Harrison<\/a>, for consistently meeting with me and helping me stay on track,\u201d said Hndlelang. She also states appreciation for the Student Success Center and their tutors. \u201cThey have been great resources alongside a few standout professors like Dr. Min Jung Kang, Professor of Finance<\/a>, and Michael B McCarthy, Lecturer of Finance and Quantitative Methods<\/a>,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cAfter many stressful semesters, what I have and still value the most, are those, both student and faculty, who willingness to be flexible and constructive has helped me grow and succeed,\u201d continues Hindelang, \u201cCommunicative, dedicated, personable, and reasonable instructors and students who share their strengths and complement your weaknesses in the courses you take together are the reason I have been able to push myself further than I thought I could. Special thanks to Noah Knutson, Hunter Johnson and anyone who joined study groups with me.\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Alexis Menard On January 28, 2020 3:15 pm Veronica Hindelang (\u201820) isn\u2019t your typical college student at the University of Michigan-Flint. This unique college student set out to complete her undergraduate and graduate education in less than four years. Currently, Hindelang is a senior studying Finance for her Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA), and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":409,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[158,63,73],"tags":[149],"class_list":["post-667","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-158","category-finance","category-student-news","tag-school-of-management"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.umflint.edu\/som\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/667","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.umflint.edu\/som\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.umflint.edu\/som\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.umflint.edu\/som\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/409"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.umflint.edu\/som\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=667"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.umflint.edu\/som\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/667\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":912,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.umflint.edu\/som\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/667\/revisions\/912"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.umflint.edu\/som\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=667"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.umflint.edu\/som\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=667"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.umflint.edu\/som\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=667"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}