- University News Archive - ��Vlog��ý Little Rock

��Vlog��ý Little Rock Student is Coordinating Living History Program at National Museum of the Pacific War

John Hill — Wed, 01 Dec 2021 14:25:26 +0000

A University of Arkansas at Little Rock public history student has begun a new career running a living history program at the National Museum of the Pacific War, which provides the nation’s most comprehensive account of World War II in the Asiatic-Pacific theater. Aaron Shuman, a native of Graham, Washington, recently moved to Fredericksburg, Texas, to start his new job as the museum experience coordinator at the museum, which preserves and exhibits the material history of the war in the Pacific and Indo-China during World War II. “The public history program worked out really well for me,” Shuman said. “I have a graduate assistantship at the Clinton Presidential Library, and my supervisor introduced me to my summer internship at the MacArthur Museum of Arkansas Military History. The skills I picked up at both of those locations were critical to getting this job.” The National Museum of the Pacific War’s Living History programs, housed in the Pacific Combat Zone, includes “Pride of the Pacific,” a live battlefield program, and “The Outposts,” an in-depth presentation featuring staff and volunteers in World War II uniforms or period clothing use artifacts and items from the museum’s collection. “Pride of the Pacific” is a live-action performance featuring landing crafts, explosives, and flamethrowers as members of the museum’s own Company K. “The Outposts” includes discussions on weapons of war, Navy fighter planes, and communications during World War II. “One of the museum’s buildings is the birthplace of Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz, who led U.S. naval forces in the Pacific during World War II,” Shuman said. “The museum is a Smithsonian affiliate, and it’s comparable in size to the Clinton Presidential Library. The Pacific Combat Zone is very unique, and a lot of facilities don’t have a separate building for living history programs. You see tanks driving around and programs that use real flamethrowers. It’s not every day that you see these things that are 75+ years old and being used the way they were originally meant to be.” Shuman’s new position is giving him a real living history experience. Not only does he get to use machines and weaponry from World War II, he has been temporarily lodged at the Ruff Haus, a building that has over 100 years of history and was built by the town’s original German settlers. An Air Force veteran, Shuman started in ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s public history graduate program in January 2020, just one day after leaving military service. “I was in the Air Force, and I realized that I didn’t want to be an aircraft mechanic forever,” Shuman said. “As a kid, I played war board games with my dad and got very interested in the Second World War. I was stationed at Kadena Air Base in Okinawa and then I went to Little Rock Air Force Base. I looked for a public history program in Arkansas, and low and behold this very rare public history program was down the street.” Shuman will graduate in December and is writing his thesis on the ways that presidential funerals reflect the lives and values of American Presidents. As he nears the completion of his master’s degree, Shuman is still surprised by how much his life has changed since joining ��Vlog��ý Little Rock. “Two years ago, I was changing tires on a C-1301, and now I’m running a public history program at a national museum in Texas,” Shuman said. “It’s crazy how fast things have changed. If ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s program didn’t have all these work opportunities to fill my resume, I don’t think this opportunity would have happened. I went from a mechanic to an academic in less than two years. I didn’t expect to get it done this quickly.”

Law student looks forward to a military career after graduation

John Hill — Fri, 22 Jan 2021 13:57:49 +0000

Nathan Johnson, a third-year law student at the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock William H. Bowen School of Law, has made the most of his “COVID summer” and has been selected to join the U.S. Air Force JAG Corps. Johnson began law school at Bowen with no idea what he wanted to do. However, as he took Professor Terrence Cain’s Criminal Law course, he realized he was passionate about criminal law. “I was learning everything I needed in other classes. I was grasping the concepts, but there wasn’t that ‘spark’ you look for in a career,” Johnson explained. “But criminal law—its history and importance, what is at stake–was intriguing. It clicked in a way nothing else had. I knew I wanted to have a career where I could give it my primary focus.” Over the summer, Johnson realized that a career with the Air Force Judge Advocate General’s office aligned with his goals after law school. The Air Force JAG Corps trains their airmen to spend their four-year assignment handling multiple kinds of legal matters. They provide legal assistance to all airmen and advise on-base senior officers regarding various matters. But one of the primary roles for airmen during their first four years of assignment is prosecuting court-martials. “My trial team skills will be immediately put to use, and I know that I’ll be as ready as I can,” Johnson remarked. Johnson gained practice experience for his new career by joining Bowen’s National Mock Trial Team as a second-year student, starting as an alternate. “In that capacity, I attended practice, listened to competing team members practice their case, and gave feedback on examinations and opening and closing statements. Essentially, I spent that whole time learning,” Johnson said. This year, he’s competing on the team. He and his partner, Daryl Bernard Jr., are preparing for spring 2021 competition. One professor’s impact on Johnson stands out as the reason he is so excited to participate in both competitions and the immediate trial work he will experience as a member of the Air Force JAG Corps. “Professor Minarcin is the best thing that could have happened to me in law school,” Nate said. “He’s like the Yoda of the trial team. He has invested so much time in us, giving us the skills to be effective trial advocates. I don’t know where I would be now if it weren’t for his instruction and coaching. He has been a huge blessing to me both as a student and as a person.” While preparing for trial team competitions, Johnson will also be a student in Bowen’s new Veterans Legal Services Clinic this semester. Under the supervision of clinic director Professor Rebecca Feldmann, Johnson will handle at least one case involving a service-connected disability compensation appeal or request for reconsideration of discharge status. He will also be completing his Rule XV clerkship with the Pulaski County Public Defender’s office. As a Rule XV clerk, he will represent clients in court under the supervision of a licensed attorney. “It’s the best combo I could ask for,” Johnson said. “I’ll be gaining experience in the public defender’s office and in the legal clinic while completing the process of joining the JAG Corps.” While Johnson has been selected to join the JAG Corps, the process has only just begun. He is currently in the process of getting medically cleared to join the military and will receive his base assignment after he takes the bar exam. Johnson will graduate from Bowen this May. Before he starts his four-year assignment, he will spend four months at Officer Training School and another three months at the Judge Advocate Staff Officer Course, where he will learn how to handle court-martials and compete in mock trials against senior instructing officers. After his four-year assignment is complete, Johnson can choose to take on another assignment with the Air Force and pursue criminal law-focused career paths, including defending court-martials.

Veteran finds love and success at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock

Ajani Oyindamola — Thu, 14 Dec 2017 21:16:00 +0000

When J.T. Poole graduated high school in 2005, he joined the U.S. Air Force and served his country as an emergency medical technician and military police officer in Arkansas, Louisiana, and Iraq. By 2009, Poole decided it was time to go to college to finish his education. In the middle of his third semester at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, Poole’s college career came to a crashing halt. On Oct. 1, 2010, Poole’s right lung collapsed, and he was given a rare diagnosis of a spontaneous pneumothorax. “My doctor said he had only seen it once in his life before,” Poole recalled. “I was in the hospital for 17 days and had seven surgeries. I remember looking at my mom at my bedside and asking her if I was going to die. She had to lie to me and tell me no, but she was a nurse and knew how people looked when they were dying.” For Poole, his illness was devastating. He had to drop out of college, was on bed rest for nearly two months while recovering, and faced large health bills. “I was 23 at the time, and it was a life-changing experience,” he said. “I took two years off to get financially secure again. I went through a state of depression. In addition to just getting out of the military and adjusting to civilian life and almost dying, it was a hard time.” In 2012, he moved in with his father, John Poole, who encouraged him to go back to college. “In 2013, my dad passed away from Lou Gehrig’s disease. It was an eight-year battle of watching him fall apart,” Poole said. “I came back to Little Rock to help my dad. I made a deal with my dad that I could stay with him for free as long as I went to college. When he passed away, I made a commitment to him as well as myself.” Since starting at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock again in 2012, Poole has been on a mission to complete his Bachelor of Science in Biology with a concentration in ecology and organismal biology. He will graduate Dec. 16 in the Jack Stephens Center with the fall Class of 2017. Poole’s most memorable academic achievement was his participation in a National Science Foundation-funded summer research experience at Rocky Mountain Biological Laboratory. Poole was one of only 10 recipients selected nationwide for the program, where he researched Boechera stricta populations, a flowering plant from the mustard family that produces chemical compounds to defend against predators. Poole’s mentor, Janet Lanza, a professor of biology who helped him apply for the summer research program, described Poole as self-disciplined and a perfect gentleman. “J.T. knew how to learn, was willing to devote the time needed to do well in his course, and had the maturity to balance long-term goals with short-term, immediate gratification desires,” Lanza said. He also visited San Salvador Island in the Bahamas earlier this year to research mangrove trees, small trees and shrubs that grow in the intertidal regions of the tropical and subtropical coastlines. “These trees are very important because when hurricanes come through, these trees protect the shoreline from erosion,” he said. “Over time, they have been harvested, and the trees are declining because the ocean water is getting more acidic. We went with the idea of learning more about these trees so we could preserve them for the future.”

Finding love at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock

Poole likes to tell people that he and his fiancé, Amber Mitchell, a 2016 graduate of ��Vlog��ý Little Rock with a bachelor’s degree in biology, had instant chemistry; they did meet in chemistry class after all. “We met in chemistry during the summer, and the next semester we had another class together,” he said. “Because my father was a tennis player, and she wore tennis skirts, I went up to her and asked her if she played tennis with the intention of starting a conversation about tennis. She said, ‘No,’ and I said, ‘Oh’ and turned around and walked away.” After an awkward start, Poole got a second chance at the girl who got away. “Fast forward two semesters, and we had a teaching class together. I saw the pretty girl that I failed to communicate with a year earlier. We went on a date and 2 1/2 years later we are engaged. We are literally polar opposites in a lot of ways, and I think that stabilizes us,” Poole said. Poole and Mitchell got engaged in March, and the two have plenty of activities in common. In 2016, they helped co-found the Campus Garden Alliance. Both served as president of the student organization. “Amber and I are both vegetarians and like to grow our own food, and we like to share that with others,” he said. “We harvested almost 700 pounds of sweet potatoes this year and donated it to the Trojan Food Pantry and sold 200 pounds to a Little Rock restaurant, The Root. It’s fun to share the campus garden experience with the younger students and see them being passionate about growing food.” Poole and Mitchell are now running their own business, Pawfessional Pet Services, offering pet walking and sitting services. Poole said they have doubled their clients since August alone. Poole plans to spend the next year growing the business full time before starting graduate school to get a degree in ecology and evolutionary biology. In the upper right photo, J.T. Poole and Amber Mitchell walk their dogs. Photo by Lonnie Timmons III/��Vlog��ý Little Rock Communications.

Student veterans to share experiences during ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Veterans Day ceremony

Ajani Oyindamola — Wed, 08 Nov 2017 15:34:49 +0000

Three student veterans will serve as the guest speakers during the University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s Veterans Day ceremony on Friday, Nov. 10. Conrad De Le Pas, a retired senior master sergeant from the U.S. Air Force, Kim Thornton, a U.S. Air Force veteran, and Caleb Wakefield, a U.S. army veteran, will talk about their experiences serving in the military, after leaving the military, and life as a student veteran at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock. The ceremony will begin at 10:30 a.m. in the Stella Boyle Smith Concert Hall in the ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Fine Arts Building. Kathy Oliverio, director of Military Student Success, will give the opening remarks. Comments will also be given by Joe Lutker, president of ��Vlog��ý Little Rock’s student organization Students Affected by the Military, and Cheryl Kleeman, who will lead the crowd in the Pledge of Allegiance and a moment of silence. Joseph Filipek, music major, will perform the drumroll, while Dr. Linda Holzer, a professor of music and coordinator of classical piano studies, will play a solo piano arrangement of the national anthem. ��Vlog��ý Little Rock students and employees are encouraged to wear red, white, and blue on Nov. 10 to honor those who have served our country.

- University News Archive - ����Vlog��ý Little Rock

����Vlog��ý Little Rock Student is Coordinating Living History Program at National Museum of the Pacific War

Law student looks forward to a military career after graduation

Veteran finds love and success at ����Vlog��ý Little Rock

Student veterans to share experiences during ����Vlog��ý Little Rock Veterans Day ceremony

- University News Archive - ��Vlog��ý Little Rock

��Vlog��ý Little Rock Student is Coordinating Living History Program at National Museum of the Pacific War

Veteran finds love and success at ��Vlog��ý Little Rock

Student veterans to share experiences during ��Vlog��ý Little Rock Veterans Day ceremony