Jacob Keller: My name is Jacob Keller. I’m a graduate student here at Appalachian State studying music therapy. I’m on my second semester. I’m a specialist in the North Carolina Army National Guard.

So, before coming to App State, I attended Gardner-Webb University, where I met my wife and I got my bachelor’s degree in guitar performance.

So, music has always been a big part of my life. I love playing music for other people. I love teaching. So, I was always interested in joining a military branch, but I didn’t know how I could while going to college.

So, before joining, it was my first semester here, it was the fall of 2014; during that month, I was considering joining the Army National Guard. I went to Dr. Cathy McKinney, the head of the music therapy department, and I said, “Hey, if I enlist in the Army National Guard, would y’all work with me?” And she said that they would do everything within their power to fully support that decision.

So, during drill weekends, when I would go off for the Saturday and Sunday, sometimes Fridays, they would show support by excusing me from classes and just catching me up on the work later on. They would check in with me, you know, ask and see how I’m doing.

Throughout the course of being here at App State I’ve received emails from the Student Veterans Association, where they’ve kept me up to date with what is going on and ways that I can fit in as a student veteran here at App State.

During my time here at App, I’ve really appreciated how the Student Veterans Association really reached out. They’ve sent surveys to professors at the end of each semester just checking in, seeing how students, how me as a student veteran, how I was doing in my studies, and I just felt really supported by receiving those surveys and the results, and just the communication that was involved.

I found out I was going to be deployed well in advance so, I had plenty of time to share that with friends and just kind of talk about it. You know, I just felt so supported with the faculty, the staff, the students, you know, and not just the faculty and the students, but the staff, like, the people who do the janitorial work, you know, everybody was just so supportive when they found out.

So, during that time I had a lot to think and prepare for, and it was just really helpful how many professors and how many students would stop me in the hall and say, “Hey, how are you doing? I heard that you’re deploying. How’s things going?” And they really, you know, befriended my wife as well, my wife Hannah, and really, you know, took care of the both of us during the time of transitioning up until, up until now when I’m about to leave.

So, in the music therapy department, we have an end-of-the-semester potluck each semester, and I attended and didn't really expect anything, but they called me to the front — Dr. McKinney, Dr. Leist, Dr. Schwantes and the music therapy department — and the American Music Therapy Student Association, they had this idea to raise financial support to put into a PayPal account to purchase an Amazon gift card for me to later purchase a guitar when I got to Iraq, and it amounted to $582 and I was just completely shocked.

I didn't bring my own guitar because we aren’t able to ship something like that over there. It was just a very humbling experience to know that, to know that I was that much loved. I mean I knew I was well loved here, but I mean that was, it was a big gift.

So, I learned about the Employers Support of the Guard and Reserve. It’s a committee, it’s in each state and it’s a part of, from what I understand, part of the Department of Defense. They work together to award employers that have went above and beyond in support of predeployment.

So, what I did was, as a graduate assistant, I nominated Dr. Cathy McKinney, Dr. Christine Leist and Dr. Melody Schwantes for the Patriot’s Award and they were accepted, and I was able to personally deliver those awards this afternoon. It was honestly the least I could do. I just wanted to do something to show my gratitude for all of the support that they provided, just to show in some small way how much I appreciated everything that they have done for me in preparing for deployment.

While I’m deployed, I’ll feel very comforted knowing that people are thinking about me while I’m overseas, and I look forward to coming back to App State to finish my graduate degree where I will hope to complete it in May of 2020.

Yeah, I really just want to give my most heartfelt appreciation and thanks for everybody that was involved in contributing to this gift. It was just a, like I said, it was a very humbling experience, and I’m going to take it and use it to create music for others and to also teach my fellow soldiers how to, how to play guitar. I’ve already got most people in my unit saying, “Hey, are you going to teach me guitar when we get over there?” Well, now I can.