Veterans Resources Office provides comradery
Ken Bruderer, a student who spent seven and a half years in the U.S. Army, had a difficult transition from military to civilian life.
“It was extremely challenging,” Bruderer said. “To say the least.”
He is not alone in his experiences. Many students come to Utah State University as veterans — or family members of veterans — and face the same challenges. USU’s Veterans Resources Office provides these students with benefits and resources to help them with this difficult transition.
The biggest challenge according to Bruderer was the switch from an environment where he knew exactly what his place was. He found comfort in the rules and regulations in the military.
“You go from that to a place where there are no set guidelines,” Bruderer said. “It’s hard going from the mindset that I am doing everything for the benefit of others, to just myself.”
Without regulations, Bruderer had a hard time figuring out what he wanted to do for himself.
“It’s just me out here,” Bruderer said. “I had to figure out what I wanted to do and the best way to do it all on my own.”
The entire world changes once you leave the military, according to Bruderer. Many of the things that are culturally acceptable in the military aren’t in civilian life. Adjusting your behavior and values to fit a culture can be difficult.
“Your place in the world feels completely upside down,” Bruderer said.
Another USU student and military veteran, Seth Newman, also finds the transition from being in the Marines to being a student comes with its unique challenges.
“You go from a situation where you depend on the guy or girl next door,” Newman said. “They have your back and you’ve got their back. But then you come to the civilian world and no one has your back.”
The Veterans Resource Office at USU provides these veterans with a sense of community hard to find outside of the military. Students come to the office with completely different backgrounds, but find a sense of comradery with those students there they can relate to because of their shared experience of being in the military.
“That unifying factor helps out a lot with the struggles that people here have every day,” Bruderer said.
Many of these students have similar trauma, and the Veterans Resource Office provides a safe space for these students to talk about these issues.
“Our identity was kind of like swallowed up in the military and we have all spent anywhere between three to who knows how many years in that environment where our identity was set in stone,” Bruderer said. “Then you get spat out of that, and you’re back into a regular civilian life where you have to refigure out who the hell you are.”
Bruderer said having the friends and resources at the Veterans Resources Office helps him and others feel like they have a support system.
Jonathan Gutierrez, a veteran and USU student, said the Veterans Resources Office is one of the only places he can come out of his shell.
“Most people outside of the military don’t really understand the military mindset,” Gutierrez said. “It’s nice to have a place where I can socialize with people on a level deeper than the surface.”
Of all the resources the office provides, the best one for these students was giving Bruderer, Newman and Gutierrez a place where they can have a community.
“It’s pretty much group therapy,” Newman said.
While they said a sense of community and comradery is the biggest benefit, the office provides many other resources for student veterans.
Tony Flores, the director of the Veterans Resources Office — a veteran himself — said he makes sure veterans who attend USU get certified on time in order to receive the right benefits. The office also has many programs including the Veterans Integration Academic Leadership Program where students are paired with a peer mentor who can help them transition to civilian life.
“We do provide some different learning opportunities outside of the regular academic career,” Flores said. “For example, some financial literature and things that are called new skills that are important.”
Being a veteran himself, Flores understands the challenges of switching from the military to college. Because of that, he said he has a passion to be involved with helping these students.
The tutoring program the office provides is particularly important because most people in the military spend years away from school. According to Flores, things like writing, math and study skills will diminish if you do not utilize them.
“A lot of service we provide to our students is helping them break down their educational barriers,” Flores said. “We help them bring back those things that students normally have coming from high school.”
Flores said many students have expressed if it weren’t for the Veterans Resource Office, they might have given up in their first year. He has found a lot of success in their tutoring program.
Support is the most important part of the office to Flores.
“We try to make everybody feel like this is a place they can go to relax and study, or just to socialize,” Flores said.
The School Certifying Officials, Rebecca Tyler and Tana Beckstead, work with students to get the right certifications and benefits. Without them, students would be left to figure that out on their own.
“If everything runs smoothly, we really see a weight lifted on a lot of our veterans to not have to worry about that stuff,” Tyler said.
Gutierrez found the support from these officials to be extremely beneficial when trying to figure out his path here at USU.
Beckstead’s biggest goal is to help students reach their educational goals.
“It’s really rewarding to watch students succeed,” Beckstead said. “It is the most rewarding experience to see them graduate and excel and get jobs after their education is over.”
Beckstead has also seen the comradery in the office. Everyone feels welcome when they come stop by.
“They all just understand one another,” Beckstead said. “Everyone is willing to help.”