Moorhead man gets ‘Green to Gold’ scholarship

FARGO — For Derek Norby, applying for a college scholarship from restive Mosul, in northern Iraq, was a bit different from his pre-Army college application.

The 2004 Moorhead High grad was bone-tired from his high-pressure gig clearing patrol routes of roadside bombs and other threats. And when he didn’t reach potential recommendation letter writers, he couldn’t exactly leave a voicemail saying, “Call me back in Iraq when you get a chance.”

Norby’s persistence paid off, though: He won a $134,000 scholarship to North Dakota State University, where he spent a year before enlisting. Online research in Mosul turned him on to the Army’s Green to Gold program, which offers active-duty soldiers a chance to finish college and land an officer commission.

Norby enrolled at NDSU in January, but he’ll be awarded his scholarship during halftime of tonight’s Moorhead High basketball game against Grand Rapids. He hopes to send a message to students that, even while in the Army, “You can go to school and have that taken care of.”

Norby started out as a bench player on the Moorhead team his sophomore year, said coach Corey Zimmerman. Norby was starting for the varsity team by his junior year.

“By his senior year, he was one of our top players,” Zimmerman said. “He was an outstanding young man.”

Norby joined the Army after a stint at NDSU. Most recently, he was stationed in Hawaii. During his second Iraq deployment, he started thinking about returning to school.

In the Green to Gold program, he discovered a great fit: The program is designed to help enlisted soldiers become officers by allowing them to take a break from active duty to pursue their studies.

Scholarship winners are uncommon in this area, said Benjamin Nicholls, scholarship management officer for the tri-college ROTC program, because of the absence of active duty installations.

“He jumped through a lot of hoops,” Nicholls said. “He stood out among many who applied.”

Norby said the time difference and his busy schedule in Mosul made applying more of an ordeal.

“It was a headache because I was there and didn’t have the resources I would have here,” he said.

Norby wrapped up his deployment in November and started tackling his criminal justice degree this semester. Though he prefers to stay out of the spotlight, he looks forward to revisiting his old Moorhead High stomping grounds tonight. He scored 24 points in a recent basketball game against Air Force members in the ROTC program.

Mila Koumpilova is a reporter at The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead,

which is owned by

Forum Communications Co.

Tags: green to gold, community, education, moorhead, iraq, soldier, scholarship, ndsu, norby