Chronicles Of Higher Education Jobs

what's up everyone? i'm your host tar-rell holt-rugely. this is my host keith smiley. hello everyone. welcome to our 1st episode of the student life chronicle.

Chronicles Of Higher Education Jobs, we highlight the latest of student life and bring it to you. thanks right. and today we'll be talking to the student veteran association

about how you can get involved in their organization. so grab your friends and some popcorn and stay tuned for some more studentlife chronicle. [music] my name is alex liddle and i'm thepresident of the student veteran association at austin community college. we always meet at places outside ofacc because they just got out of an institutionalized life,

had 5+ years in the military and not a lot of them want to be in thatsituation again. they just need to be a veteran. if they want to be an officer of theorganization, then there are other requirementssuch as they need to have a 3.2 gpa and you also need to be taking a fullcourse load. so we are a brand new organization. we're still trying to figure out what

we wanna do annually. what wedo know-- that we will continue to do is have a veteran's day banquet. we had our first one last semester and it was a wonderful turnout. we had all sorts of people come politicians, judges, other governmentofficials. all veterans. we had them come and speak to accstudent veterans and faculty

and share their success stories about howthey transitioned out of the military and how they had certain difficult experiences gettinginto the student life, but how overall they overcame those obstacles. and it was just really wonderful to hear that it is possible to do that transition and then to become a professional with a college degree. my favorite part of being a member of the student veteran association is getting

to surround myself with veteran peers, just like i had in the military. once you get out of the military, youlose that comradery that you have while in-- so i was in the army for 5 years, while in, i had some difficultexperiences. i was deployed to afghanistan where igot into really intense situations. i was shot at and on may 8, 2012, i was injured by an improvised explosivedevice.

i really struggled from that when igot out and as soon as i got out of the military not only did i lose that comraderyamong the soldiers, but i also lost that help, that medicaland behavioral help that i was being provided. i just-- i would have killed to have some sort of organization to help me, to give me the steps that i need to follow in order to transition from military to student life

and register and apply and just getstarted as a student. i want to be that place that all the soldiers can come to, all the veterans, who can just get help who can get a do to list even if that makes it easier. that way they can focus on becominga student and be successful at it. so my tip for veterans who are wantingto get involved whether it's in school or the community, i say go for it. it wasn't until i startedgetting involved, plugging into different organizations

whether it's in the school or community, that i started to get over those anxieties and those fears. it's really helpful, it's therapy really. so what i would recommend is if you want to get involved in school somehow, maybe choose an organization that hasto do with your major. that's great way to get involved. if you have great grades, join phi beta kappa.

joining these organizations is notgoing to hurt. it's gonna help. it's a great way to just hang out, be around like minded people, and surround yourself with peers whounderstand what you may be going though. it's a great way to just finish that transition and be a successful student. wow. that was such an inspiring storyfrom alex just now. i had no idea that acc had an organization specifically for our veterans.

yeah, it's real great to see brothers and sisters band together like that. i agree with that. well, that's it for our 1st episode ofthe student life chronicle. but before we leave, we want to senda special shout out and thanks to alex liddle with the student veteran association for joining us today. to learn more about the student veteranassociation, be sure to check out their facebookpage at accstudentveteranassociation. also, be sure to follow student life ontwitter, facebook and instagram

for updates on our next episode and much more. see you next time on the student life chronicle.