My name is Ryan Hastings and I was born in Hyannis, MA. However, I currently reside in Fredericksburg, VA with my wife and four children, along with one cat and one dog. I retired from the U.S. Army in 2015, having been a member of the 3d U.S. Infantry The Old Guard (TOG) Fife and Drum Corps for the past twenty years.
When I was around three years old, my family moved to the Northern Virginia area from Massachusetts, where my father was a public school music teacher in Fairfax County. We primarily lived in the Burke/Springfield areas of Northern VA, where after graduating high school in 1988, I attended George Mason University. While at GMU, I pursued a degree in Trumpet Performance, with the goal of joining one of the U.S. Army’s premier musical ensembles in the Washington D.C. area. Then, in 1994, a bugle instrumentalist position became available with the FDC, and the rest is history.
In 2006, with military retirement getting closer each year, I returned to college. In 2012, I earned my Associates of Arts and Sciences Degree, graduating Summa Cum Laude. Then in 2014, I earned a Career Studies Certificate in Accounting, both coming from Germanna Community College. I am currently enrolled at the University of Mary Washington, in the Bachelors of Liberal Studies program, pursuing a degree of my own design, in History and Communication. I hope to graduate this December. (237)
Congratulations on your retirement to you and your family!!! That is a huge accomplishment. The military has some amazing men and women who know the value of hard work. I actually like seeing more and more adults going back to school. I usually go to class during the day and I am seeing more and more adults all the time.
Hello Ryan!
I feel that i might be the only one in this class that born and raised in Virginia. I am really jealous of you all. I believe that one day i would like to see more of this country and move somewhere out of state. Congratulations on your retirement and thank you for your service. I cannot wait to see what work you produce in this class and I look forward to your responses to mine. I am a big fan of making this class as friendly and community like as we can. Together we can grow and challenge each other to produce our best work.
Robbie Pratt
It is good to see you, in a way, again. I hope what little of a break you had was enjoyable. I am somewhat confused by your major, I was unaware that students were able to come up with their own. How do you plan on converting your degree into real world applications? I am not sure what I am going to do after December, so I was hoping maybe you had some good ideas about what to do with a History Degree. Feel free to contact me, my email is jconger@umw.edu.
I was unaware that you could create a degree of your own design that is great. Do you know what your plans will be after you graduate?
Hello Ryan! My name is Shauna. First I wanted to thank you for your service! Secondly that is awesome that you are motivated to finish college even after having a 20 year career. Your family must be so proud of you for doing so well in your classes while taking care of four kids, that sounds exhausting just thinking about it. What are your plans for after graduation? I also graduate in December! Good luck this semester!
Hey Ryan, thank you for your service and congratz on retirement. You must be a good musician to land a gig with the FDC. I am sure you will graduate in December, make a plan and stick to it. Thanks for sharing.