Michael Logan is a husband, father and Navy Surface Warfare Officer on an NROTC shore tour that has him traveling almost every Sunday–Thursday as he visits and assesses Navy ROTC programs around the country. After serving in the Navy for 13 years, he began eyeing a master’s degree and decided his shore tour was a good time to pursue it. In just one year, at practically warp speed, he earned his master’s in Global Business Management from The University of Alabama in an online format that fit his commuter lifestyle. Picture below proves Michael’s heavy travel schedule, showing all the states he visited while he was enrolled in the program.
“I took three classes per semester and one over winter break. It wasn’t recommended at first. Jan Jones was kind of hesitant to let me sign up for three classes especially because I’m full time with the Navy. My goal was to use my travel time and just stay up as long as I could handle it and get all my work done — that way my weekend would be free with my wife and son.” Even though Jan had concerns about Michael’s desired course load, she now sings his praises, proud of his success and accomplishment.
Originally from Charleston, South Carolina, and now living in Pensacola, Florida, Michael credits his wife for turning him into an Alabama fan. He attended his first Bama football game in 2010 when, led by championship-winning quarterback Greg McElroy, the Crimson Tide beat Ole Miss 23-10. It wasn’t just his loyalty to Alabama that led him to pursue his master’s degree here, though.
“If you Google ‘best online business programs,’ Alabama shows up. It’s legitimate and highly ranked. I was offered the opportunity to go to Monterey, California at Naval Postgraduate School but declined and pursued a degree with Alabama. I have so much work experience with the military that when I thought about transitioning to a civilian career, I wanted something that would open a door to a different world. My degree from The University of Alabama and Manderson Graduate School of Business does that.”
Michael said that being a student at Alabama, even from afar, has enriched his experience as a fan.
“The pride you have as a fan of the University — it’s not just football. You want to see them do well in sports and academics, from the robotics team to boasting the CEO of Lockheed Martin as an alumna. There’s so much pride there. And the pride you have once you’ve graduated is just completely amplified.”
Last year during a football game, Michael’s wife asked him, “How does it make you feel now that you’re a student?” His reply: “I feel like I need to go study!”
“The program was tough. It was lots of work with high expectations. The toughest classes for me were statistics, economics and managerial accounting. But they were tough because they made you do everything you had to do to get the right answer. In undergrad, I memorized a lot and regurgitated the information to get an A or a B, but this program made me think and write papers and perform research, which really made me learn a lot.”
Michael says the material he learned in the program has been applicable to his personal life, current career and his professional aspirations for the future. “Our whole world is driven by money. If you don’t understand it, you can’t make good decisions for yourself. We’re trusted in our jobs to make sound decisions; to operate off a fixed amount of money, you have to make good decisions. The material I learned in my classes helped me make sense of money professionally and personally, which was a huge plus.”
He said Dr. Lou Marino’s course on Global Business was one that made him work hard and think outside the box. “We had to choose a company and come up with a diversification strategy and what would make sense for that company. I suggested Delta Airlines go into the rental car industry, and it was neat to work through all of that and see how it played together.”
“This degree has set me up for success in the future whenever I leave the Navy, but it also has given me the opportunity to view things in more of a big picture way with a global perspective to understand what’s going on in business and the economy behind what most people see.”
The views expressed by Michael Logan in this article do not necessarily represent the views of DoD or the Navy.
Published: August 30th, 2020