When she graduated from Rock Hill High School, Rebekah Kelley never planned on becoming a juggler.

No, the 26-year-old Kitts Hill native did not join the circus. She joined the United States Army. But that does not mean she hasn't learned to keep many things up in the air.

Spending the past year in Tikrit, Iraq as part of the Army Reserves, the days have been anything but typical for Sgt. Kelley.

Fight to survive. Run for cover. Save lives. Finish the homework?

See, Rebekah is not only serving America overseas in the Reserve's 429 Medical Evacuation Battalion. She is also working towards an associate's degree through the University of Phoenix Online.

And doing well.

"Balancing school and work was difficult. I wish I could say it was a day job, but unfortunately, in a war zone, your job never stops," Rebekah said via e-mail. "… Every time we were hit with a rocket, mortar or small arms fire, the whole entire communications system was shut down. "

Barry Morris, a communications instructor for the university, was impressed with Rebekah's work in his written communications course. Then he found out how she spends her days.

"The fact that she was in a war zone where people are shooting at you and trying to kill you, made her story even more amazing," Morris said. "She kept right up with the work and produced strong papers. She received an 'A' in the course. It was an 'A' that was well-earned."

For Rebekah, the juggling does not stop with just her daily life. Probably the toughest juggling act she has had to perform is balancing between doing her duty for her country and missing the smiling faces of her two sons, Nathan, 6, and Derik, 4.

"I had never spent more than a week away from my oldest son and this was the first time I was separated from Derik. I'm still not used to being away from them and I sometimes still cry when we talk on the phone," Rebekah said. 

"The other hard part would have to be seeing the wounded soldiers and knowing how many close calls I had. But of course that ties back into missing my boys. Anytime anything would happen I would immediately think of them. They are the reason I survived." 

Staying on a Kitts Hill farm with their grandparents, the boys miss Mom, too.

"She's in Kuwait. She's saving people," Nathan said shyly as he looked towards the ground. "I miss her a whole bunch of days."

"I miss her, too," Derik chimes in.

With their closely shaved heads and shining eyes, the boys look almost like twins. But they sure don't act like it.

Though he is older, Nathan is more reserved, thoughtful and quiet. Derik talks 90 mph and doesn't shy away from telling what's on his mind.

Enjoying time with their "Mamaw" and "Papaw," both boys couldn't be more alike when it comes to one thing - missing Mom.

"I say I love her," Nathan said quietly. "I say it everyday."

Though she is thousands of miles away, the boys are never far from Rebekah's mind.

"There was a time, before our very first convoy out of Kuwait into Iraq that a few friends and I sat down and wrote final letters to our families. You see, every time you left in a convoy or flew out, you never knew if you would make it back," she said. "… Writing my 'death letter' was truly the most difficult thing I have ever had to do. It took me three hours to think of what words I wanted to leave for my children. I never want to have to do that again."

Fortunately, those letters never had to be mailed. And soon, it will be time for a homecoming.

Rebekah is scheduled to return to the U.S. this week but will have to stay at her home base in Savannah, Ga., for a few weeks before returning to see her sons.

It may just be the toughest few weeks of her life.

"I don't know what I will be thinking when I go to see my little boys. I'm sure a myriad of thoughts will cross my mind.

Will they be excited to see me?

Should I let them see me cry?

Will they let me hold onto them the way I want to?" she said.

"I just want to hold them and look at them because I know they have changed so very much. … It breaks my heart just to think about the things I have missed this past year and I will want to do all the catching up I can."

Once she finally sets her children down and releases them from a giant bear hug, Rebekah plans to continue her education and focus on her dream of becoming a clinical psychologist to help women and children.

But her first priority will be to simply love her sons and put her life back together, she said.

"I want people to understand the sacrifices the men and woman in uniform are having to make. I don't think anyone truly understands what it is like to give up your life, especially a reservist, like myself, and fly to a foreign country," she said. "I know that that is the price we pay for enlisting, but I sometimes wonder if people truly understand the toll it takes."