{"id":956,"date":"2018-08-02T10:27:19","date_gmt":"2018-08-02T17:27:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/?p=956"},"modified":"2024-04-02T14:15:27","modified_gmt":"2024-04-02T21:15:27","slug":"hannah-thelen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/hannah-thelen\/","title":{"rendered":"Up in the air, but laying a strong foundation"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Hannah

When she’s not deployed for months at a time, Ecampus business administration student Hannah Thelen is stationed at Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha, Nebraska, where she lives with her husband. Her next steps will land her in the Pacific Northwest to use the skills she’s earning through her degree at a company that aligns with her passion for the outdoors.<\/p><\/div>\n

By Julie Cooper
\nJuly 30, 2018<\/em><\/p>\n

Ask most college students and they\u2019ll tell you their future career plans are up in the air. But for Hannah Thelen, her current career is \u2013 literally.<\/p>\n

In August 2013, Hannah began her service in the United States Air Force where, through specialized training and education, she became an airborne cryptologic linguist.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s responsible for translating intelligence communications received or intercepted during flight to provide threat warnings that aid in maintaining the safety of her teams.<\/p>\n

To earn this prestigious title and set herself up for success in this role, Hannah attended courses at the Defense Language Institute for a year and earned two associate\u2019s degrees through the Air Force.<\/p>\n

Despite her sharp skills, her career path seemed less clear when she asked herself what would come after separating from the military at the end of her enlistment.<\/p>\n

Hannah set a new goal for herself: Earn a top-ranked degree that would set her apart in the workforce.<\/p>\n

Having already proven she can successfully earn an education while actively serving in the military, Hannah enrolled in Oregon State\u2019s bachelor\u2019s in business administration\u00a0<\/a>degree program online after her search for the most military-friendly online degree programs\u00a0<\/a>directed her to Oregon State Ecampus.<\/p>\n

\"Hannah

\u201cFor me, it\u2019s important that there\u2019s a military representative at the school who understands military issues like deployment and can help explain things to advisors and professors and vouch for me,\u201d Hannah says.<\/p><\/div>\n

The ROTC detachment on OSU\u2019s Corvallis campus signaled to Hannah that her unique challenges as a student would be understood and accommodated.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, it\u2019s important that there\u2019s a military representative at the school who understands military issues like deployment and can help explain things to advisors and professors and vouch for me,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

The flexibility offered by the online program isn\u2019t just a perk for Hannah \u2013 it\u2019s essential. Her responsibilities shift constantly, whether stationed at Offutt Air Force Base in Omaha, Nebraska, where she lives with her husband or deployed for months at a time.<\/p>\n

Although she\u2019s attending Oregon State from a distance, she envisions the Pacific Northwest in her future and is planning to put down roots.<\/p>\n

By pairing the extensive skills she gains through her business degree with the steadfast determination of serving in the Air Force, she plans to work in marketing or accounting for a large Pacific Northwest company that aligns with her passion for the outdoors, such as REI or Nike.<\/p>\n

\u201cI chose the business administration degree because it covers a lot of things \u2013 marketing, finances, accounting and more,\u201d says Hannah, who is on track to graduate by summer term 2020. \u201cMy classes have set me up for those types of positions. Having to apply what I\u2019ve learned to different projects is going to help me be successful when I get into the job market.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

<\/span> 3<\/span> minute read<\/span><\/span>Ask most college students and they\u2019ll tell you their future career plans are up in the air. But for Hannah Thelen, her current career is \u2013 literally. Hannah is an airborne cryptologic linguist in the United States Air Force. By pairing the extensive skills she gains through her business administration degree with the steadfast determination of serving in the Air Force, she has big plans to work in marketing or accounting for a large Pacific Northwest company that aligns with her passion for the outdoors.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":964,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[673],"tags":[129,639,107,120,40],"class_list":["post-956","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives","tag-business-administration","tag-business-and-communications","tag-college-of-business","tag-military","tag-military-students"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/Hannah-Thelen-main.jpg?fit=744%2C478&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p7BNSE-fq","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1827,"url":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/7-insights-from-an-ecampus-entrepreneur\/","url_meta":{"origin":956,"position":0},"title":"7 insights from an Ecampus student turned entrepreneur","author":"Jordan Friedman","date":"August 13, 2021","format":false,"excerpt":"OSU Ecampus graduate-turned-entrepreneur Hannah Thelen shares her seven best tips on how to start a small business as a student, while doing well in school and more.","rel":"","context":"In "All Stories"","block_context":{"text":"All Stories","link":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/category\/all\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/Hannah-Thelen-2020-grad-desert.jpeg?fit=800%2C450&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/Hannah-Thelen-2020-grad-desert.jpeg?fit=800%2C450&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/Hannah-Thelen-2020-grad-desert.jpeg?fit=800%2C450&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/Hannah-Thelen-2020-grad-desert.jpeg?fit=800%2C450&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1260,"url":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/business-degree-online-air-force\/","url_meta":{"origin":956,"position":1},"title":"Striking a balance between student and staff sergeant","author":"Jordan Friedman","date":"September 5, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"With a career in the U.S. Air Force, Chris Burke has worked at odd hours, been deployed overseas and mastered the art of balancing a job and raising three children. That's why when he was looking into online bachelor\u2019s degree programs a few years ago, he searched for one that\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "All Stories"","block_context":{"text":"All Stories","link":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/category\/all\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/Chris-Burke-836A0364-small-e1567624849433.jpg?fit=744%2C496&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/Chris-Burke-836A0364-small-e1567624849433.jpg?fit=744%2C496&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/Chris-Burke-836A0364-small-e1567624849433.jpg?fit=744%2C496&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/assets\/Chris-Burke-836A0364-small-e1567624849433.jpg?fit=744%2C496&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x"},"classes":[]},{"id":1227,"url":"https:\/\/ecampus.oregonstate.edu\/news\/military-student-online-taniah-johnson\/","url_meta":{"origin":956,"position":2},"title":"With her diploma in hand, military veteran puts self-doubt to rest","author":"Tyler Hansen","date":"August 19, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Taniah Johnson didn\u2019t think she was smart enough for college. Just the thought of applying to learn online with Oregon State University Ecampus intimidated her. But she had something to prove \u2013 to herself and everyone else. 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