- Jamie Hurley, UMUC Military Student
UMUC Europe and UMUC Stateside
MyUMUC Story:
Jamie Hurley Gets a Very Global UMUC Education
By: Cheryl Balassone
One of the greatest advantages of UMUC is that it allows people around the world to get a high-quality advanced education, any time, from anywhere. Jamie Hurley, a stay-at-home mom who now resides in Shreveport, Louisiana, first heard about UMUC while on active duty in the Air Force stationed at RAF Lakenheath, in England. Upon learning about the variety of educational programs and formats available from UMUC through the base education office, she was immediately interested.
Jamie enrolled at UMUC in October 2005 after the birth of her first daughter. Now out of the military, she will graduate with a degree in business administration and a minor in human resources in August 2008. For Jamie, UMUC’s flexible course formats, available both in classrooms and online, made it possible to get the superior education she values so much. UMUC also accepted all of her military credits and transfer credits from other schools, enabling her to complete her education even faster.
Having attended both UMUC Europe and Stateside, Jamie enrolled in just two classroom-based courses while overseas but says the experience was unforgettable. “Being in those classes let me see the wide range of people who enroll at UMUC," she said. "I attended classes with military spouses—American, German, and British; military members of all ages and stages of life; and military members’ children who just had graduated high school.”
Jamie loves the cultural diversity UMUC affords. “No matter where I take class, my professors—along with many of the students—are from all over the world. One of my professors taught us from Greece, another from Japan. I think the broad range of people and the experiences they share make UMUC a very compelling place to learn.”
Jamie aspires to a career as a human resources manager for a large corporation. Her undergraduate education, along with her future plans for an MBA, will leave her well-prepared for a flourishing career. She enjoys helping others and seeks to improve employees’ understanding and use of their benefits, ensure EEO rules are followed, improve safety, and train employees to perform their jobs properly, all with the goal of making the workplace better for everyone. Jamie also has an interest in teaching—she’s even considering becoming an online instructor for UMUC at some time in the future!
When asked what she likes best about attending UMUC, Jamie quickly responded, “The online classes have allowed me to be a stay at home mom and still work on my goal of getting a college education. UMUC allows any person to be able to go to school while continuing their current job, whether that be inside or outside the home. If I can start school with a three-month-old baby, anyone can!”
