Article in The Herald

The Herald interviewed me on Monday about our effort to get a club going to help veterans. The article is in the Herald today.

Dealing with fellow student who question your service to our country

I continue to hear from veterans who share their frustration over comments made by their fellow students who question the appropriateness of their military service, ask too probing types of questions about their actions in combat, etc.

Some veterans share the way many deal with this is to withdraw and not put themselves in the position where they may be uncomfortably put in the position where they could be criticized. In some cases PTSD issues have been triggered that resulted in veterans staying out of class.

This really an unfortunate situation because one of the major values of a college education is the interaction, the dialog, the debate that goes on in the academic environment. Like in any personal setting when someone gets too nosy, one strategy is to tell them you're moving forward and that part of your life is over.

What are your experiences? What strategies do you employ to effectively deal with these types of issues? What do you recommend to your fellow veterans?

Inappropriate comments by adverserial professors in class

I've been researching academic research on student veterans challenged by transitional issues, including the impact comments by adversarial professors using their classrooms inappropriately to make anti-war comments which negatively impact veterans ability to succeed academically. It also includes comments by fellow classmates.

I've included some of the research on the Fort Lewis College in Durango, Colorado Veterans Relations web site.

Great recommendations were made about steps colleges could take to make veterans transition issues easier.

While we haven't had major problems here, we have had concerns expressed by veterans from time to time. To help our student veterans be prepared, just in case, I discuss potential solutions to these challenges for students to consider.

I'd appreciate hearing from other student veterans around the country with respect to their experiences, their comments relative to my recommended solutions and any recommended solutions they'd like to suggest based upon their experiences.

Solutions to Common Problems

Many veterans, especially when they internalize key issues, feel as though they are all alone. You’re not. Keeping abreast of the challenges your veteran contemporaries around the country are experiencing can be helpful in developing your own success strategies. Here are some issues which have surfaced from recent research and from experiences of veterans who have successfully achieved their educational and career objectives.