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For more than a year and a half, Jessica Ross had to cut back on her work so that she can care for her husband, Reginald, who has an incurable blood cancer that has been attributed to his military service. 

Despite the interruptions, she held onto the dream of moving up in her company from her role as an executive assistant to a position as a human resource generalist. Since her background in human resources is self-taught, she wanted to jumpstart her advancement by earning a bachelor’s degree. 

Now she has the opportunity. 

Ross has been named one of this year’s Pillars of Strength Scholarship recipients. The financial assistance—which includes full tuition to University of Maryland Global Campus (UMGC)—is awarded to caregivers of ill or injured servicemembers or veterans. Upon learning that she had been selected for the highly competitive scholarship, she said she was thrilled that she could now afford the academic degree she always wanted. 

“It's just one of those things that I want to prove, that no matter how long it takes or how old you are, it's never too late to still follow your dreams,” she said, explaining that she heard about the Pillars of Strength Scholarship from a Facebook post on a cancer group she followed. 

Reginald was 40 years old and just short of 21 years on active duty, serving in three different branches of the military—Marine Corps, Air Force Reserves and Army—when he was diagnosed with blood cancer. A staff sergeant, he had deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan and was just two weeks away from retiring from the military when he received the news.

Ross immediately reduced her work hours so she could shuttle her husband three or four times a week on the four-hour round trip from their home in Aberdeen, Maryland, to the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. During the month and a half that Reginald was in the hospital, she made the trip four times a week to see him. 

Because Reginald’s cancer diagnosis came before his retirement ceremony, the Army would not let him retire until he had undergone treatments to stabilize his condition. Since his medical condition is connected to his military service, he has his medical needs met through the Office of Veterans Affairs (VA). 

“It’s been a blessing for the family that the VA covers everything for his diagnosis,” Ross said. 

The family now lives in Jacksonville, Florida. They have a daughter who is a college sophomore and another who is starting the 5th grade. Reginald was an active athlete, and the progress made in cancer treatment could extend his life as much as 10 years, Ross said. 

Ross won’t be the first member of the family to enroll in a �Ҹ������� degree program. Using his VA benefits, Reginald graduated from UMGC in May with a bachelor’s degree and already has launched into a master’s program.