Marines

Photo Information

Air National Guardman 1st Lt. Angela Cronan visits the General Alfred M. Gray Marine Corps Research Center aboard Quantico on May 2, 2013. She has earned five college degrees and is currently working on a master’s degree at Chamberlain College of Nursing. Cronan attributes much of her success counseling that she received at the Voluntary Education Center on base.

Photo by Ameesha Felton

Military college student excels, thanks Quantico education center

6 May 2013 | Ameesha Felton Marine Corps Base Quantico

Balancing the demands of a military career while pursuing education can be a challenge, but it’s one that Air National Guard 1st Lt. Angela Cronan has mastered. Cronan, a former Marine staff sergeant who now serves as a nurse, has earned three associate degrees, two bachelor’s degrees and is currently working on a master’s degree at Chamberlain College of Nursing. She has maintained honor status throughout her nine-year educational career, while maintaining active-duty status.

Exceptional as Cronan’s achievements may seem, the wife and mother of two, doesn’t take the credit alone. Instead, she attributes much of her success to the Voluntary Education Center aboard Marine Corps Base Quantico.

“The whole reason I’m here today is because of the education center at Quantico,” Cronan said. “I was a Marine who didn’t know anything about education and [the career counselors] sat down with me and showed me all the tools that I needed.”

Now, she hopes to pay it forward by encouraging and showing others how to attain their educational goals.

“I want to put that light bulb above someone else’s head and have it go off, and then watch them run with it— that’s my passion,” Cronan said.

When the Huntington Beach, Calif. native, joined the Corps in 1996 at 17 years old, college wasn’t a priority, but after serving for 11 years, the former graphic design instructor at the Defense Information School, wanted to switch careers and transition into the medical field.

Like many military students who often balance military careers and family life, Cronan said time management was her biggest challenge. However, the said Cronan she learned to maximize time by being strategic, even with leisure moments.

“You have to designate free time, by considering if you’re going to spend time with family, rest, [use] Facebook or [play] video games,” Cronan said. “Pick your outlet and then dedicate a time to it but once that time is up stay focused on what mission and the next step.”

In addition to having access to resources like the education center and a focused mind, Cronan said that family support was also critical.

“Family support is important to success in anything, whether it’s education, losing weight, eating healthy or saving money, because if [military family members] don’t have the same goals you’re just kind of fighting each other,” Cronan said.

 Melora McVicker, education services officer at the Voluntary Education Center, hopes other military students can be inspired by Cronan.

“She exemplifies the non-traditional active duty students’ journey in higher education, because they are balancing home and career success,” McVicker said. “Her education journey shows how applied discipline, determination and dedication can impact a student’s professional and educational success.”

In the future, Cronan aspires to become a nurse educator with hopes that her story will spark academic interest among other service members to make the most of the Voluntary Education Center.

“If people can learn about the resources that are here and get that fire, it can change their family, community and the Marine Corps,” Cronan said.

Staff Writer: afelton@quanticosentryonline.com


Marine Corps Base Quantico