By Tina M. Temm
Listen up YOU!
Well that’s over, time to go to school
There are men and women that decide to join the armed forces versus going to college or a community college. These men and women may have joined the regular/reserve federal forces, Coast Guard, or the assorted state Guard forces. Whether it was for one or more enlistments or maybe a career, they put a formal civilian education largely on hold. All those military personnel have to go through different steps to training just as a college student goes through orientation before starting classes. The difference is that screwing up in military training can be physically painful while screwing up in college is costly both financially and time wise.
For those who embark on a tour of the military, at the start they have their lives being told what to do, 24/7. The lives that they had led no longer exist. First stop off would be the reception station which is equivalent to orientation for students that are attending college except people here are not so polite. This will last for usually a week or more depending on the individual’s brushes with the military’s bureaucracy.
Next comes Basic Training in which they will be controlled by their sergeant/chief depending on the service they are in. They will be told when to wake up, when to eat, when to sleep, time to do PT (physical training) and when it’s time to do training.
After basic they go to their actual military occupation schools. This is where they will be trained on what to do for their “job” in the service. From there, unless they get further specialist training, they are posted either State side or overseas. Military life can be hard not just for the serving member but for the family as well. Many jobs in the armed forces
involve constant family separations and even for unmarried personnel, life is very different from what they may have known before enlistment.
Once a soldier decides to separate from their service and start a new life, such as attending college, they have to regroup and figure out the civilian way of life. That often is pretty hard, especially for those who were in combat arms or combat support given the vast differences in those with civilian life. However, there is the option of a serving member going to college and attending a university to get commissioned. But for those that will separate this can be difficult for them because while in the service as already mentioned earlier – they understood their personal responsibilities and ordered lives and now they will be entering a world with little or any of that. There are some people (civilians) who think this should not be an issue – but it is.
When a veteran attends college, they do the same as any other student does by submitting all the paperwork that is needed. Some will even submit their military transcripts. Once all has been processed and whether or not they are coming in as a Freshman or a Transfer – they will go through their final step of orientation. During orientation they will meet with someone from the Veterans Resource Center. Those who work at the VRC are often either veterans or a family member of a veteran. Here they will have the support that they may need from tutoring to dealing with any type of issue that may arise. Moreover they will be in contact with people who understand the differences of life now for them as they too went through the very same changes.
Both veterans and active duty have dealt with so much that no one can understand unless they have been through that ordeal. We are empathic to the problems that they may have and we can celebrate with them on their accomplishments.
But for all those that have served and that are still serving – I would like to say THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE. Whether you served for three years or twenty plus, many of us here at Auburn University want to help you in that transition to college life!
