FORT RUCKER – Verdenas Begay’s days are full. The Fort Rucker woman works full-time, cares for an infant, shuffles her sons to basketball and soccer practices and cooks, before heading to night classes at Troy University.

Begay attends school at the Fort Rucker Location, where she is working toward a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology. Troy University’s facilities are a short distance from her on-post housing and her civilian job at Fort Rucker.

Begay says she might have had to put her education on hold, if it were not for the convenience Troy University offers through its Fort Rucker Location. Her husband, Staff Sergeant Jarvis Begay, is stationed several thousand miles away in Korea; and she delivered her fifth child last fall.

“I’m so glad we came to Fort Rucker,” Begay said, “because it allowed me to be family oriented and, at the same time, to earn my degree.”

TROY professors teach classes at almost 40 military instillations around the nation and world; and the University is the second largest provider of online courses in the eArmyU distance education program, according to Troy University Chancellor Jack Hawkins, Jr.

“We are proud to be able to serve the men and women who so courageously serve our country,” Dr. Hawkins said. “Whether they are stationed at Fort Rucker or serving in Afghanistan, we will continue to do everything we can to make quality education accessible.”

Troy University first began offering classes at Fort Rucker in the 1950s. Bob Willis, Troy University interim Dothan Campus vice chancellor, said soldiers are not the only ones who take advantage of the convenient location.

“While many of the students who attend classes at the Fort Rucker Location have military ties,” Willis said, “civilians are also welcome to take classes at the location.”

For Begay, attending Troy University is a family experience. Her 20-year-old daughter, Adrienne Brown, is also a TROY student; and her husband graduated last December with a degree in criminal justice.

“I’m taking accounting with Adrienne now,” Begay said, “before that I took American literature and psychology with her. My husband also took the same psychology class.”

When she graduates in May, Begay has no plans to put her textbooks away. She will begin working on a master’s degree in social work.

“My daughter will be the first grandchild to get a bachelor’s degree,” Begay noted proudly. “My husband is the first to get a bachelor’s in his family, and I will be the first with a master’s in my family.”

For more information about Troy University programs offered at the Fort Rucker Location, contact Sandy Henry at (334) 598-2443.

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