Lewiston-Auburn College has built a reputation among its students as a special place to learn. We understand why.

Zark Van Zandt, the college’s dean, says the school is designed to be transformative for its students, providing them with the “knowledge, skills and work habits that will make them better citizens, workers and life-long learners.”

On Monday, the Sun Journal told the story of how the school has gone further, becoming a virtual lifeline to normalcy for a soldier stationed in Iraq.

For the past four months, Sgt. Kim Dionne has used a Web cam and a high-speed Internet connection to bridge the gulf of time and space to take a master’s level class at L-A College. She told the Sun Journal that she skips sleep to log in to a Tuesday night leadership class taught by professor Christy Hammer.

The connection’s often spotty, forcing a choice between video and audio, and the terrors of war have imposed themselves on the arrangement, cutting short Dionne’s participation.

L-A- College, which is part of the University of Southern Maine, is not the only school to offer distance learning opportunities. Saint Joseph’s College also uses the technology, as do other parts of the University of Maine system.

Most of the time, the technology allows students to be away from the campus and the community. But in Dionne’s case, it’s just the opposite. The technology keeps her connected to her life outside the Army, to her school, her classmates and her community. That’s something special.