BANGOR – Roxanne Carrow, 28, of Skowhegan is determined to get an education, even if it means trading in her schoolbooks for an M-16 rifle and a cookbook.

Carrow, who is completing her first year at the New England School of Communications, an affiliate of Husson College in Bangor, is the youngest of seven children and the first in the family to go on to higher education.

But because getting that education is costly, she has enlisted in the U.S. Army National Guard. As a reservist she will be repaid for many of her student loans and will get $200 a month while attending school.

First, however, Carrow will take boot camp training at Fort Jackson, S.C., and job training as a food service technician at Fort Lee, Va. She then will be stationed in Skowhegan as a cook, training one weekend each month and two weeks during the summer. Despite being designated as a food service technician, she must also be proficient in the use of the M-16.

Carrow will return to NESCom in the fall to resume her associate degree program in television production.

How she got to this point is a story of determination and resourcefulness.

As a resident of Carmel, Carrow started at Hermon High School but left before graduating. She then spent two years with the Job Corps and finally received her general education development diploma from Bangor High School in 1993.

Working part time in various capacities and as a volunteer through the ASPIRE program at CATV Channel 16 in Madison whetted Carrow’s appetite for more education, particularly in the communications field.

“I did a little of everything at the TV stations in Madison and Fairfield from advertising editor to camera person. I really loved the work and applied to NESCom over the Internet,” she said.

Now the single mother of girls ages 4 and 6, Carrow said she looks forward to returning to NESCom and plans to continue toward a bachelor’s degree in communications. Her long-range goals include becoming a TV producer or anchor, and her first-semester grade point average of 3.0 has her on her way to realizing her ambitions.

In the meantime, she will have to concentrate on her skills as a cook. Is she a good cook? Carrow thinks so.

“I’ve been cooking since I was 8 years old. My mom taught me,” she said.

Her daughters are proud of their mother’s educational pursuits.

“They really look up to me because I’m going to school just like they are,” Carrow said. “In fact, my oldest reminds her teacher of that fact quite frequently.”

A major booster of the school, Carrow is proud that she has overcome many obstacles to reach this point.

“I’m determined to better myself and provide a better future for my kids. I don’t want them to go down the same road I did. I want them to get educated and have the things I didn’t have,” she said.

For information on the New England School of Communications, call 941-7176.