\u201cIt\u2019s 9:19 [p.m.] here now,\u201d Jennifer Kostic, Sinclair faculty member, Academic Staffing Coordinator and a Major in the US Army Reserve, said in a phone interview from Afghanistan. \u201cWe\u2019re 9 and a half hours different. It makes communication with the states a little interesting.\u201d
\nKostic was deployed in November to Kabul, Afghanistan, where she is helping orchestrate the removal of troops and equipment from the area for the Defense Logistics Agency. Until she reported for duty at Fort Benning in Georgia in November, Kostic was expecting to be deployed to Kuwait.
\n\u201cThe day I got there, I was notified that my orders had been changed to Kabul,\u201d she said. \u201cI was not necessarily thrilled with that.\u201d
\nBut she said her work there was \u201cmore challenging, more rewarding and historic.\u201d She has had the opportunity to help write a document that will be the foundation for how troops will be moved out of Afghanistan over the next several years, she said.
\n\u201cThe job is entirely different from what I first expected,\u201d she said. \u201cBut because I\u2019ve been in the military for a while, I knew what the new job entailed.\u201d
\nAlthough recent attacks have made it unsafe for Kostic and her fellow soldiers to be transported outside the compound, she said she feels safe where she is.
\n\u201cIn the current state of affairs, this is probably one of the safer places to be,\u201d she said.
\nKostic said that before the recent lockdown, she was traveling regularly, visiting Kuwait, Qatar, Bagram and Marmal. But the recent lockdown has kept her in the compound for most of the last month.
\n\u201cWe are well secured, maybe a little too well,\u201d said Kostic.
\nThe compound that is Kostic\u2019s new home is small and has few amenities. She is sharing a room with three women.
\n\u201cYou\u2019re either at work, at home or at the gym,\u201d she said. \u201cIt reminds me of what I think prison would be like. It\u2019s not fun to be 38 and be on the top bunk.\u201d
\nKostic has also \u201cdiscovered how small the army is,\u201d as one of her best friends, a suitemate from Tulane University who she had not seen in 13 years, is also stationed at her location.
\n\u201cWe\u2019ve had the opportunity to reconnect, and that\u2019s been fantastic,\u201d she said.
\nKostic\u2019s work for Sinclar has not stopped simply because she is on the other side of the world. She is still checking her Sinclair email daily and continues to lead several employees in the adjunct office and in human resources. She is helping to coordinate the adjunct faculty awards from afar, and is even involved in the faculty hiring process. Next quarter, she will be teaching Interpersonal Communication (COM 206) online.
\nEvery week, she says she eats the snacks that have been mailed to her at a movie night with her coworkers. She throws parties in her office with the decorations that have been sent to her by Sinclair faculty and staff.
\n\u201cYou know, what I\u2019d really like to say is thank you,\u201d she said. \u201cEvery day I am touched by how much the people at Sinclair have shown that they care: packages, emails, cards, well wishes on Facebook, gifts and treats from family.\u201d
\n\u201cIt makes me feel so good about where I work, and people here are like \u2018wow, they really like you,\u2019 and it really makes me feel good,\u201d she said. \u201cHopefully at some point in time I can express to everybody there how much their support has meant.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cIt\u2019s 9:19 [p.m.] here now,\u201d Jennifer Kostic, Sinclair faculty member, Academic Staffing Coordinator and a Major in the US Army Reserve, said in a phone interview from Afghanistan. \u201cWe\u2019re 9 and a half hours different. It makes communication with the states a little interesting.\u201d Kostic was deployed in November to Kabul, Afghanistan, where she is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7380","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-tartan-news"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"cc_featured_image_caption":{"caption_text":false,"source_text":false,"source_url":false},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p5s3vR-1V2","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7380","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7380"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7380\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7412,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7380\/revisions\/7412"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7380"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7380"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.sinclairclarion.com\/home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7380"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}