SEOUL — For the 15 years Kristina Simmons has known her husband, he’s been in school. And while she never doubted he was smart enough to graduate, she had moments when she thought his career as a soldier might stop him.

"Not because he wasn’t trying, but because the military came first, and they said you’re going to Iraq, or you’re going to Bosnia," Simmons explained.

After 17 years — which included three deployments, nine duty stations and 13 years of marriage — her husband, Sgt. Dameon Simmons, finally finished school. On Saturday, he was one of about 40 graduates receiving degrees from the University of Maryland University College Asia during a ceremony at Seoul American High School.

Simmons, 36, said the only time he doubted he would get his degree was when he went to Iraq.

"It was an ‘I don’t know if I’m going to come back’ type of thing. The degree at that time wasn’t a big concern," said Simmons, who earned a degree in human resource management and will go to Officer Candidate School in August.

Like Simmons, many of UMUC’s students earned their degrees in rather untraditional ways.

Of UMUC Asia’s about 800 graduates this year, the average student took more than 13 years to earn a degree. Graduates ranged from 20 to 70 years old, although the average age was 34.

"I bet all of you growing up, in the back of your mind, knew you were going to get your degree. You knew you were going to finish" said Maj. Gen. Frank Panter, commander of Marine Forces-Korea. "It’s just that you had adult, real-life responsibilities you had to take care of."

Keynote speaker Kathleen Stephens, the U.S. ambassador to South Korea, told the graduates to embrace change and push themselves to learn more every year than they had the previous year.

Graduate Sgt. Liz McClatchie, 26, took two online classes in 2004 and 2005 while stationed in Baghdad with a finance unit. Then, living conditions were basic and it took "a month and change" to get Internet access at the only place it was available — at the Morale, Welfare and Recreation Center.

However, McClatchie spent most of her time in Iraq in convoys, traveling to other bases. Several of her friends were killed while she was there.

"(School) kind of kept my mind from thinking about other things, so it was a good distraction," said McClatchie, who earned a degree in management studies with a minor in criminal justice.

After moving to Camp Humphreys in South Korea in 2006, McClatchie drove to classes at Osan Air Base and U.S. Army Garrison-Yongsan — a trip that can take an hour or more, especially in heavy Seoul traffic.

The hardest part of earning the degree wasn’t the studying, she said. It was "being disciplined and focused enough to give up my weekends and all my free time," she said.

Dae Jin-yoon, who works in the accounting office at the Dragon Hill Lodge, earned a degree in business administration and said it was hard balancing a full-time job with school.

"It’s a lot of online classes and going to class right after work," he said.