Student Veteran Finishes the Drill and Earns Degree 11 Years Later

11 years and 3,000 miles. That’s what stood between Inge Lindholm and her business degree. Eleven years before applying to UGA’s BBA Online degree completion program, Inge Lindholm was a UGA student on the Athens campus. As a student veteran who had served as a guard in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba immediately after 9/11, Inge worked hard to overcome issues that plague many soldiers after their military experience. Life sidetracked her from completing her degree at that time; however, Inge never lost sight of her goal. Through the BBA Online, Inge was able to pick up where she left off and graduate with her business degree from UGA this past summer, nearly 20 years after she took her first college course.

Inge chose UGA’s BBA Online because it meets students where they are, regardless of profession, life situation or location. It allows busy adults to finish their business degree in a flexible, 100% online format. For Inge, flexibility was essential because she currently lives 3,000 miles away from UGA’s main campus in Silicon Beach, California.  

Inge leads a busy life outside of academics. When she’s not managing her own business, you can find her paddle boarding or kayaking on the Pacific coast waters or maybe photographing live concerts and performers in Los Angeles. Inge’s experiences in the technology sector and the U.S. Army have inspired her most recent project–a virtual reality initiative in support of veterans’ mental health.

So not only has the BBA Online allowed her to maintain this busy lifestyle, but it’s also exposed her to a whole new realm of educational and career possibilities. Inge says that her BBA Online experience has proven that technology has the potential to promote engagement and build community in remarkable ways. The program has given her the opportunity to connect with students from various parts of the U.S. and then collaborate with them on class projects, all without sacrificing her need to maintain balance in school, work, and life. Inge is already thinking about graduate school, perhaps in technology or education to find innovative ways to support other students like herself.

When asked what her biggest challenge has been, Inge acknowledges that self-doubt can be one of the hardest things to overcome as a non-traditional student. “A lot of false stories run through your mind– ‘I’m too old, or I won’t have anything in common with the younger students, or I won’t be able to keep up with the content,’ and these thoughts can be pretty debilitating.” In order to work through these false stories, Inge would think of how she would respond to someone else in her situation. Getting some distance from those negative thoughts would motivate and inspire her to move forward.

But it’s the community, Inge says, that has made this journey possible. UGA’s BBA Online provides an opportunity for students from a wide array of backgrounds to connect and learn together. For Inge, it was the network of friends, classmates, professors, her advisor, and family that made her dream of being a UGA graduate a reality.