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Article published Mar 29, 2009 Veteran students: Ease the transition Norwich urged to recruit, provide for returning military
By Peter Hirschfeld Vermont Press Bureau
NORTHFIELD – Incoming college freshman generally arrive on campus as carefree teenagers fresh from summer vacation.
Jamie Corcoran, a political science major at Norwich University, came to Northfield in his mid-20s by way of Iraq.
"I came here 25 years old as a freshman," says Corcoran, a Montgomery native. "I was out of the Marine Corps three months at that point and I hit every brick wall possible."
Corcoran, now 29, is one of nearly 100 young veterans enrolled at Norwich's undergraduate school. The nation's oldest private military college, a group of students and veterans told university officials Friday, can do better for members of the military matriculating there.
"I was ignorant to the many benefits available to me through the VA and I got almost zero help from anyone for three years here," Corcoran said during a meeting with faculty and staff that included Norwich President Richard Schneider. "And I still believe Norwich University is the best place possible for our veterans to come to."
About 10 veterans of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan – enrolled in a spring seminar exploring veteran issues – urged university brass Friday to move ahead with a number of campus initiatives. From offering college credit for military service to establishing on-campus counseling for veterans coping with readjustment issues, the students said Norwich can position itself as the premier choice for active-duty military personnel seeking to further their education.
"The transition coming back from a wartime environment or fleet unit – it's sun to moon," said history major James Wallenstein. "Many veterans return home and have a lot of issues with what they saw or did over there. … They don't feel like they can talk to anybody. They feel isolated."
Wallenstein, an active duty Marine who served in Iraq, said Norwich is especially well-positioned to help this unique subset of students. Offering a university-based option to complement VA services, he said, will help veterans thrive in a new academic environment.
"We hope to create an office here," Wallenstein said. "No one knows who you're talking to, no one knows what's going on. It's someone you can talk to without fear of being judged."
Transitioning from desert battlefields to campus greens can be unsettling for many veterans, students said Friday. Trying to assimilate into a college culture, they said, can exacerbate the challenges posed by reintegration generally.
Andrew Chobanian, a Marine Corps riflemen who served in Afghanistan, proposed a mentoring program that pairs veteran upperclassmen with incoming freshmen.
"You develop an overall camaraderie and sense of belonging for someone who would be alienated otherwise," Chobanian said.
Joshua Changinman, a business management major and Iraq veteran, said an eight-week summer course for veterans, prior to their freshman year, would refresh the high-school basics that many veterans lose over the course of their four-year hitches. The time, he said, would also help veterans prepare for the culture shock of living in a campus bubble populated largely by teenagers.
"The maturity level different, the language they use is different," Changinman said. "There's a culture clash that could happen, and this kind of course could prepare veterans for that."
Corcoran said his school stands to benefit from an investment in veteran services. An updated GI bill pays for up to four years of college for all veterans, reimbursing tuition costs up to prices at the most expensive in-state university. Because the University of Vermont is so relatively expensive, Norwich – whose semester tuition rates run only about $2,000 more than UVM's – could offer four-year college degrees to veterans virtually free of charge.
"This is where we could shine, where could truly shine," Corcoran said. "If Norwich did a better job of advertising, recruiting and putting out the word of what we are about, we have unimaginable potential to attract veterans to Norwich."
The veterans will meet with university trustees next month as they work to have their plans implemented in advance of the next academic year.