Oregon native Bryan Lietzke has been in the U.S. Air Force for eleven years. He’s been deployed to Afghanistan five times.
On Saturday afternoon he’ll have a new experience: he’ll receive his Bachelor’s Degree in Systems Management from WKU.
What will he feel as he walks across the stage?
“I don’t know…probably satisfaction,” said Lietzke.
Some 1,300 WKU students will receive their diplomas on Saturday at Diddle Arena. But not all of them had quite the same college experience as Lietzke.
Lietzke posted a 4.0 grade point average and he did so while taking his classes online. Some of the classes he took while at Fort Knox, other times at Fort Drum in New York and still other times while in Afghanistan.
“It’s been a good experience,” said Lietzke. “I haven’t had any issues with scheduling. I obviously travel a lot so the professors were extremely cooperative in working around my schedule and let me do some assignments early or late, just depending on training.”
Lietzke says he’s already benefited from his studies.
“They’ve made it so I know more about how to interact with people. Specifically my concentration was in leadership, so it’s given me a little more insight into how to best motivate people and to manage better,” said Lietzke.
Lietzke, who has a wife and four children, says he plans to stay in the AirForce for another nine years. He said he’ll likely apply to Officer Training School within the next year.
WKU's 176th Commencement takes place Saturday at E.A. Diddle Arena. Ceremonies begin at 9:30 a.m. and 2 p.m.