By TYLER ELLYSON UNK Communications Brandi Mayer celebrated the start of a new semester in a place a world away from the University of Nebraska at Kearney campus. Dressed in Army fatigues, the 28-year-old aviation operations specialist posed for a back-to-school photo at a military base in the Middle East, where she’s currently stationed with the Minnesota National Guard’s 34th Expeditionary Combat Aviation Brigade. Mayer and nearly 700 other soldiers from the St. … [Read more...] about Brandi Mayer balances master’s classes, military service during deployment