Why Studying for an Online Degree is Perfect for Vets Looking to Reconnect with Family

Ending a career in the military and returning to civilian life is often a difficult journey for veterans to make. Depending on the circumstances of your return, whether it is voluntary or the result of an injury, there can be a number of challenges that you aren’t prepared for. If you also have a family to look after, it can be hard to reintegrate their presence into your daily life while you are also dealing with your own issues.

Studying for an online degree can help you to return to your civilian life while also leaving you plenty of time to spend with your family. If you’re looking for a way forward that will present new opportunities and allow you to truly move on, here’s why an online degree is a solid choice.

More Time for Them

Studying for an online degree is something that you can do from pretty much anywhere. As long as you have an internet connection, you will be able to check-in with your online university. Other than that, all you have to do is make sure that you keep up with all of your work deadlines and follow along with any reading and research the course requires of you.

This means that you will still have plenty of time to spare for your family. Of course, you should be prepared to put the hours in if you choose to study your course on a full-time basis, although we will talk about that shortly. But even with the most intense workloads that an online degree is likely to throw at you, you will have significantly more free time than you would with most jobs.

Work at Your Own Pace

The majority of universities who offer online degrees will offer both part-time and full-time studying options. Part-time studying is designed to enable people who would otherwise be unable to study for a degree to do so. For example, new parents, single parents, people who work, all would usually find it very difficult to make time for a full-time university course on top of their other commitments. Part-time studying has meant that people in these kinds of situations have been able to obtain a degree.

If you want to make extra time for your family, or perhaps you just feel like you need to ease back into civilian life, studying your course on a part-time basis will give you some extra breathing room and will reduce the pressure on you.

Find the Right Long-Term Career

Many vets are disheartened when they leave the military and discover how much pressure there is on them to use their skills and training to pursue private-sector security jobs or police jobs. In the US, there is still a problem of helping combat veterans to find careers after their service that doesn’t put them back into stressful situations, especially for veterans who have psychological trauma.

Studying for an online degree will earn you a qualification that will enable you to broaden your horizons beyond these types of careers. Most vets have something to offer beyond their military training, so think about your other passions and interests. For example, if you would like to make a difference to the lives of other people, many of whom are or have been in your situation, you could study for an online social work masters degree.

Give Yourself Purpose

One of the most difficult aspects of adjusting back to civilian life for any veteran is finding a sense of purpose. We don’t mean that kind of purpose your family gives you, we mean the kind of regimented purpose that life in the military entails. When you leave the military and return to life outside it, it’s up to you to set your own schedule and fill your own day. For many veterans, this transition is difficult.

Enrolling in an online university course will give you a sense of purpose and will also give you something to plan your time around. You can approach it in a regimented way, ensuring that you are up at a certain time and put in a certain amount of work each day – you can set your own schedule. Not only will you be giving yourself a sense of purpose now, but ultimately you will come out of your online degree with a new qualification and new opportunities open to you.

Enrolling to study for an online degree could end up being one of the best decisions that you ever make. Not only will you broaden your own horizons, but you will also be setting a great example for your family.