91探花

Arriving at the 91探花鈥檚 Seattle campus, Brandon Green had a familiar feeling of disorientation.

Green, 33, who transferred to the 91探花from Everett Community College after spending seven years as a U.S. Army medic, had travelled the U.S. and the globe, including two tours in Afghanistan. He鈥檇 undergone rigorous training and knew what it was like to deploy to foreign, often dangerous places.

Even with all that experience, college life was different.

鈥淎ll of a sudden you go from every day being very structured, everyone knows their place, as it were, and everyone supports one another to this world of pure chaos,鈥� he said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 really easy to feel lost, especially stepping into a large academic institution, where not only is that sense of structure and camaraderie gone, but now you鈥檙e outside of your element. It鈥檚 like deploying to another country, but not having your training.鈥�

Green isn鈥檛 alone. The transition from military life to an academic setting is a challenge for many veterans. And yet, the promise of an education is one of the reasons many people join the military.

Since 1944, the GI Bill both paved and paid the way for veterans and their families to pursue a college degree, graduate school and other training. Federal mandates established under the Obama administration require college campuses to provide more. Called the , participating institutions must look after 鈥渢he whole person.鈥�

 

At 91探花Seattle, that鈥檚 part of the mission of Student Veteran Life, which provides about 3,066 veterans and their families with a community of peers and resources to help navigate the complex world of veteran benefits. With Naval Station Everett and Joint Base Lewis-McChord nearby, hundreds more veterans and their families attend 91探花Bothell and 91探花Tacoma. The tight-knit bonds that were established during military careers are touchstones for creating safe, supportive communities, designed to help people succeed in academia.

鈥淲e assume that people are being challenged intellectually in the classroom,鈥� said Samantha Powers, the director of at 91探花Seattle. 鈥淲e basically seek to fill in the rest.鈥�

Student Veteran Life at 91探花has evolved over the years. The office first was established to assist veterans and their families with receiving federal benefits. Since then, spaces were created for veterans on each campus, indoor and outdoor activities planned, and special resources added to help veterans find mental health counselling and land a job.

鈥淲e strive to equip all of our students with the tools and skills to succeed at 91探花and to thrive in their lives beyond. Key to this is embracing each student鈥檚 unique story and recognizing how their past informs their present,鈥� said Denzil Suite, UW鈥檚 vice president for student life. 鈥淭hrough their experiences and perspectives, our student veteran community brings an irreplaceable richness to our classrooms and our campus.鈥�

Veterans on campus

Each year, veterans at all three 91探花campuses organize events 鈥� some somber, others joyful 鈥斅爐o honor the dedication and sacrifice of the men and women of the armed forces. 聽Ceremonies already are underway across all three 91探花campuses for , culminating on Thursday, when the country recognizes the Veterans Day holiday.

鈥淲e really want to try to provide opportunities for people to connect with other student veterans,鈥� Powers said. 鈥淲hile it’s great that they come to us and feel comfortable coming to us, it really is more important that they make that connection with each other, so that they are together through their entire time at the university.鈥�

Student veterans come to campus with specific needs, desires and perspectives. They can arrive fresh from active duty where they were experiencing life-and-death situations, Powers said. That鈥檚 different from most 18-to-22-year-olds.

鈥淏oth are hard transitions,鈥� she said. 鈥淏ut you know, looking at dead body parts on a PowerPoint might affect a high school graduate differently than somebody who’s just gotten back from Iraq or Afghanistan.鈥�

 

Rosa Liu, director of veteran services at 91探花Bothell, said having a place for veterans on campus saves lives. Suicide rates are high among the veteran population: According , about 14% of all suicides in the U.S. in 2019 were veterans, and an average of 17 veterans took their own lives each day.

鈥淭he experiences that our veterans gained from their military career are profound,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hey’ve seen more life than you and I, things that we may not even want to see.鈥�

Ben Studley, 42, who went to 91探花Bothell for undergraduate and graduate work after 16 years in the U.S. Navy, now works in constituent and veteran relations for U.S. Rep. Suzan DelBene.

He honed his leadership abilities as a chief gunner鈥檚 mate and discovered that he could apply the same skills on campus.

鈥淚 found my path,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd I said I want to get involved with the veterans on campus. What do they need, what do I need to succeed here?鈥�

The camaraderie doesn鈥檛 end with military service, Studley said.

鈥淚t keeps you going, and it keeps you realizing that you still do have family outside of the military,鈥� he said.

Camaraderie among bowling, Dungeons & Dragons

Student Veteran Life sponsors bowling, art classes, ski trips, board games and more to provide opportunities for veterans to connect and thrive. Inside the Student Veteran Life office at the HUB, there鈥檚 always free coffee, chill music and a sense of belonging.

鈥淭he biggest thing is just being able to talk with students through their experiences,鈥� Green said. While studying for a degree in biology, Green has worked in the Student Veteran Life office, offering peer support and helping to establish an indoor activities program. 鈥淓ven if we don’t provide solutions, just providing a sounding board for them to vent and feel like they’re not abnormal, or this isn’t a weird thing that they’re going through, that it’s okay to feel like that.鈥�

Ryan Trepanier, 26, enlisted in the U.S. Marine Corps right out of high school. He chose 91探花Tacoma to pursue computer science because he wanted a smaller, more intimate academic community.

Now in his senior year, Trepanier works in the , is president of the and was a senator in Associated Students of 91探花Tacoma.

“One thing that I missed about the military was the brotherhood and camaraderie,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 wanted to still get a sense of that on campus, so I knew that it would be easy to accomplish that by meeting people who had similar backgrounds.鈥�

Liv Fowler, 24, a sophomore studying linguistics and Hebrew, started at the 91探花in early 2020 at the outset of the COVID pandemic. 聽A former U.S. Navy nuclear mechanic, Fowler left the service after her husband, U.S. Marine Corps Cpl. Anthony Nimtz, died while serving in Hawaii.

鈥淚t’s really invaluable to be around people who kind of can empathize,鈥� she said.

Once at the UW, Fowler decided to join an online Dungeon & Dragons community sponsored by Student Veteran Life. Although she hadn鈥檛 played before, she felt comfortable trying something new among a group of peers with whom she shared a common experience. She now works for Student Veteran Life as a peer mentor.

Giving back and recognizing Veterans Day

Giving back and offering service to others is key to many veterans鈥� identities.

That鈥檚 why it鈥檚 important, veterans say, to recognize those men and women who put their lives on the line to protect freedom.

鈥淲hat we can do for veterans is respect their humanity and understand that they come from so many different walks of life,鈥� Fowler said. 鈥淰eterans Day is important because it’s a singular celebration of that.鈥�

Veterans Day is a way to bridge gaps between civilians and people who have made a pledge to fight for their country, Green said.

鈥淎t the end of the day I just really hope that people can get together and learn to share experiences and be there for one another, regardless of their background,鈥� Green said. 鈥淚 think that’d be a great way to really honor Veterans Day, to be able to try to understand people.鈥�

For more information, contact Powers at sapowers@uw.edu.