FORT EUSTIS, Va. –
Paula Gaskell has turned that proverbial page on a new chapter in her life.
The Army wife and mother of two is working toward her associate's degree as a medical administrative assistant from Bryant & Stratton College - taking online courses, and reading and studying new material so she can go back to work full-time for the first time in more than a decade.
And Bryant & Stratton is making sure Gaskell can pay to make those new career dreams come true. The private career college awarded Gaskell, and 54 others, a scholarship through its Salute to Spouses Scholarship Program. Gaskell won the award from Fort Eustis, where she lives with her husband, Sgt. 1st Class Curtis Gaskell and their two children, Curtis Jr., 9, and Kelly, 5.
"I'm excited," Gaskell said of her online educational pursuits.
Gaskell enrolled in the medical administrative assistant program in May 2010, deciding online classes were the way to go this college go-around as a full-time mother and wife. Online courses are new to Gaskell, who received a bachelor's degree 20 years ago the old-fashioned way - in the classroom.
"I like them a lot better than I thought I would," she said.
She also likes the flexibility it affords her with two young ones at home.
"Since school is online, it allows me to attend class anytime I am free," Gaskell said. "I can get online in the early morning before the kids are up, and I can also get online later at night after dinner - or even after everyone has gone to bed.
"This helps me juggle the mom/wife/student roles because I have no set hours to be in a classroom, nor do I have to factor in the commuting time to and from school," which, she said, "would add at least an hour per school day that I would not be home in addition to the class time."
Gaskell also liked when her admissions director told her to apply for the college's scholarship program, which has helped her pay for books and other incidental costs. Her tuition has been covered by her husband's GI Bill eligibility credits, which Sgt. 1st Class Gaskell was able to transfer to his wife.
Bryant & Stratton's Scholarship pays up to $6,000 for online study meted out by semester. Gaskell gets a little more than $1,000 per semester.
"I didn't want to go into debt to go to school," Gaskell said. A lot of the courses Gaskell has been taking are the core ones, she said - English, sociology, psychology, accounting and business. In her previous career, Gaskell was a software trainer for a media company based in Augusta, Ga., until the couple got married in 2001 and moved to Hanau, Germany, in late 2002.
While there, Sgt. 1st Class Gaskell was deployed for 15 months to Iraq. Gaskell and her son traveled a bit, entertained her parents on European visits and returned to the United States from time to time during the family's three-and-a-half year stay. The couple also welcomed Kelly into the world in 2006 while in Germany.
After Hanau, the Gaskells made their way back to the United States to Kansas, where the time wasn't right yet for Gaskell to return to school. Gaskell wanted to focus on the couple's young son and new baby. The couple received orders to Fort Eustis two years ago. The family lives on base.
During their time at Eustis, Gaskell decided what to study and where to go to school. She chose medical administrative assistant because it's a growing field, and the job would translate wherever the couple ends up moving, whether Sgt. 1st Class Gaskell stays in the Army, or retires and the family moves somewhere else to put down roots.
"I knew no matter where we might end up, it would be useful," Gaskell said of the degree.
Gaskell also hopes to do some volunteer work to get some experience under her belt. With both children in school next week full-time, Gaskell will have more time to ratchet up her studies. She returns to school Wednesday and plans to graduate next summer. She already has the online routine mixed with family life down, though.
Online, the school week runs from Sunday at midnight to Saturday at 11:59 p.m. - meaning she can access weekly assignments early Sunday morning and plan her week accordingly.
"We also have a tracking calendar for each class that we get at the beginning of the session. This shows what chapters and outside reading we will have for each week as well as the due dates for any midterms or papers due for the class," she said. "Having that gives me the opportunity to get a jumpstart on assignments when I have more free time and frees up time when home life is busier; the key is to stay organized and on top of deadlines.