This article is part of a special series, “Just the Right Time,” featuring some of our outstanding Adult Learners.
Note: The average age of graduates in the Class of 2024 is 35. About 83 percent of the Class of 2024 — over 24,000 graduates — earned their degrees through Liberty University Online Programs. As an innovator in distance learning for 40 years, Liberty has a longstanding tradition of serving working professionals, veterans and service members, parents, and grandparents. It’s why Liberty remains one of the country’s largest online education providers.
After driving from Pittsburgh to Lynchburg, Derek Lang, 40, walked the stage at Commencement in front of his three young children, modeling for them how to be a good steward of God-given opportunities.
“It was an opportunity to teach my kids the importance of education, hard work, and taking advantage of the resources God provides,” he said. “For me to turn down this opportunity would have been foolish and wasteful, and my kids saw me choose to take on the challenge, so I’m very thankful for that. I wanted to show them that you can always be learning.”
Lang enlisted in the United States Marine Corps in May 2001 and served eight years, including a tour to Iraq in 2005, before retiring as a sergeant in June 2009. Upon leaving the military, he began his career as a firefighter for a small city for seven years before transitioning to his current role in the fire department serving Pittsburgh International Airport.
Using the GI Bill, Lang earned his associate degree in aviation management from a local community college and looked for a university with an online program that would accept his credits on the path to his bachelor’s. A coworker told him about Liberty University Online Programs, where he could receive discounts as both a military veteran and first responder.
Lang has been studying at his own pace for the last four and a half years, ultimately completing his bachelor’s in interdisciplinary studies with focuses in fire administration and aviation management in December.
“I found it all very manageable, and I especially liked how the classes were broken up into eight-week portions,” Lang said. “The professors were always willing and able to help me with questions and help me study around my work schedule. Being a nontraditional (college student), they knew I was willing to do more and that I was willing to work hard to make things work.”
As is the case in every program at Liberty, his classes infused lessons on maintaining a biblical mindset in his everyday life, something that Lang took to heart.
“That was very evident in all the classes,” he said. “I really appreciated that because it helps you understand the Bible better, and it shows you how we should be interacting with others in our everyday environments. When you have to figure out how to integrate the Bible and Christ into whatever you’re doing, it makes a difference.”
Read other profiles in this series:
