SEMO sophomore in Iraq still taking classes

Going to class and having enough money to buy pizza are the worries of a typical college student. Neil Guinn, a student at Southeast Missouri State University, is more worried about keeping U.S. Army helicopters working in Iraq.

Army Spc. Guinn is not a typical college student.

Guinn is serving on an air base north of Baghdad in Balad, Iraq, as a member of the 1106th Aviation Division, working in tech supply and helicopter maintenance. He also is taking two online courses at Southeast this summer.

Guinn currently is taking Biology for Living and will also take an American history course. Guinn also has enrolled for classes during the fall semester.

Guinn said the online courses are helping him reach his goal of being a junior when he returns home.

"I want to be able to graduate in decent time, and taking a whole year off would put me kind of far behind," Guinn said.

Guinn, a sophomore from Columbia, Mo., is majoring in secondary education. After working and sleeping, Guinn has close to four hours of free time a day for schoolwork. He also gets every fifth day off.

Guinn said he usually has no problem getting the work done, but that doesn't mean it has not been difficult.

"The hardest part is making sure I take into account the time change," Guinn said. "When it says it must be turned in by midnight, that means 9 a.m. the next morning for me because of the time difference."

Dr. David Starrett, who is teaching the biology course, said Guinn has had no problems getting to the material and is usually one of the first students to turn in assignments.

"If I wouldn't already know where he was at, nothing that has happened in the class would make me think that he wasn't just down the street," Starrett said.

Guinn said Starrett has treated him like a regular student.

"That is the only way I would have it," Guinn said. "I am sure that if I had to ask for an extension based on my circumstances he would grant it, but I will not do that."

Guinn said his fellow soldiers help by covering for him if he has schoolwork to finish.

Guinn was already enrolled at Southeast before he was shipped overseas. But Debbie Below, the university's director of admissions, said it is offering a simplified enrollment process for military personnel who are interested in taking college courses.

"We visited with the local National Guard to find a way to help support our troops," Below said. "They told us what troops really need is an opportunity to further their education."

Southeast has created a Web page for members of the military to use to enroll in online courses. It allows military members to request classes, and the admissions staff does the work to get them enrolled.

Mailed his textbooks

Enrollment was simple, Guinn said.

"They mailed me my textbooks, and my adviser had a conference with me online to open me up for classes. Also, my mother had been a great help to me by keeping in contact with them when I could not do so."

Online courses were developed to create greater access to education, Starrett said, and Guinn is the most extreme example of how the courses are succeeding.

"We followed him to the four corners of the world," Starrett said. "It is wonderful that we can allow him to take the same class he could here while serving overseas."

jwachter@semissourian.com

335-6611, extension 127