Find Your Calling Introduction (Veteran Voices)
Find Your Calling Introduction (Vereran Voices)
Transcript
My name's Dan Burkhardt I was in the United States Air Force from 2010 to 2014 I served at Joint Base Andrews as a broadcast journalist, and I am now a software engineer at IBM.
One of the things that was most challenging about the transition was how much of a culture shock, and how much of a career shock it was. I was a broadcaster and really working in media in the Air Force. And I transitioned into software engineering through my studies at Columbia.
One of the things that I think was most helpful was finding an internship that I could connect with to learn how those studies were going to apply to my career later on. And through that experience, finding mentors who could help guide me in those career making decisions. A lot of times, it wasn't clear to me how the things we were doing in class were going to connect later on. And to have some people in your life that help fill that gap is vitally important-- was vitally important to me.
I was able to connect with veterans organizations who got me some exposure to developers who had been in the industry for some years and some other folks who had been through companies that had similar roles that allowed me to probe some questions about what their experience was like, what my day to day life was going to be like later on. And I think having mentors and people around you who can support you and guide you is of the utmost importance.
In terms of advice that I would give other vets transitioning, I think that it's incredibly important to learn how to lean on other people after you get out. Nobody can do this alone. I mean, the military provides a team that's really built in for you, and a lot of us experience great leadership. Some of us didn't experience great leadership. But there is always at least a couple of folks you can rely on that are always around.
It's a little more lonely in the civilian world. It can be harder to get established in a community. Always find people, and find people you're comfortable with leaning on for things. I happen to find that-- I was very lucky that I found that very quickly here in New York. I know that's not everybody's experience. I definitely would encourage every vet who's in transition to try to build something of a community that feels a lot like the brotherhood and sisterhood you had in the military.
My name's Rachel Bartlett. I am currently a Staff Sergeant in the United States Marine Corps Reserves. I have served from being a combat engineer into the female engagement team to now part of the security cooperation group in Washington, DC.
I think if anything, if I could just talk to-- because I'm a veteran mentor here at the school. I'm just going to like jam this out with you for a second. It's not tailored.
But I think even being a veteran here, I think more often than not, I've told people give yourself the time to adjust. Whether you are getting out and just going home or you're getting up and going straight to school.
I know when you're coming into a new environment, you want to prepare yourself the best that you can without understanding what that environment is. We do this when we go into theater, when we go short term, long term projects or training. You just have to try and get an idea for what you're going into. But until you actually arrive, you'll never really know.
I talked to a lot of new student veterans who are just panicking from their workload, panicking from just having to live in New York, panicking from not understanding how to deal with other students.
And the best thing that we really talked about is just that it does take time. It took me almost a solid year of being here in New York and going to Columbia to finally realize that this is my rhythm. There are going to be sprints and there are going to be more of endurance parts.
But ultimately, what has really helped me, I found a great group of friends. Because again, for me, it's always been about finding people that share my values that I can go to, that I can chill with, that can encourage me. But it took a year. And it wasn't just a quick overnight thing.
You can power through your grades, and you can use your classmates, and use your resources. But just giving yourself the space to realize, I'm probably not going to figure this out tomorrow, or this month, or maybe even this year, but I'm eventually going to. That is, I think, the biggest step you could take for yourself.
One of the things that was most challenging about the transition was how much of a culture shock, and how much of a career shock it was. I was a broadcaster and really working in media in the Air Force. And I transitioned into software engineering through my studies at Columbia.
One of the things that I think was most helpful was finding an internship that I could connect with to learn how those studies were going to apply to my career later on. And through that experience, finding mentors who could help guide me in those career making decisions. A lot of times, it wasn't clear to me how the things we were doing in class were going to connect later on. And to have some people in your life that help fill that gap is vitally important-- was vitally important to me.
I was able to connect with veterans organizations who got me some exposure to developers who had been in the industry for some years and some other folks who had been through companies that had similar roles that allowed me to probe some questions about what their experience was like, what my day to day life was going to be like later on. And I think having mentors and people around you who can support you and guide you is of the utmost importance.
In terms of advice that I would give other vets transitioning, I think that it's incredibly important to learn how to lean on other people after you get out. Nobody can do this alone. I mean, the military provides a team that's really built in for you, and a lot of us experience great leadership. Some of us didn't experience great leadership. But there is always at least a couple of folks you can rely on that are always around.
It's a little more lonely in the civilian world. It can be harder to get established in a community. Always find people, and find people you're comfortable with leaning on for things. I happen to find that-- I was very lucky that I found that very quickly here in New York. I know that's not everybody's experience. I definitely would encourage every vet who's in transition to try to build something of a community that feels a lot like the brotherhood and sisterhood you had in the military.
My name's Rachel Bartlett. I am currently a Staff Sergeant in the United States Marine Corps Reserves. I have served from being a combat engineer into the female engagement team to now part of the security cooperation group in Washington, DC.
I think if anything, if I could just talk to-- because I'm a veteran mentor here at the school. I'm just going to like jam this out with you for a second. It's not tailored.
But I think even being a veteran here, I think more often than not, I've told people give yourself the time to adjust. Whether you are getting out and just going home or you're getting up and going straight to school.
I know when you're coming into a new environment, you want to prepare yourself the best that you can without understanding what that environment is. We do this when we go into theater, when we go short term, long term projects or training. You just have to try and get an idea for what you're going into. But until you actually arrive, you'll never really know.
I talked to a lot of new student veterans who are just panicking from their workload, panicking from just having to live in New York, panicking from not understanding how to deal with other students.
And the best thing that we really talked about is just that it does take time. It took me almost a solid year of being here in New York and going to Columbia to finally realize that this is my rhythm. There are going to be sprints and there are going to be more of endurance parts.
But ultimately, what has really helped me, I found a great group of friends. Because again, for me, it's always been about finding people that share my values that I can go to, that I can chill with, that can encourage me. But it took a year. And it wasn't just a quick overnight thing.
You can power through your grades, and you can use your classmates, and use your resources. But just giving yourself the space to realize, I'm probably not going to figure this out tomorrow, or this month, or maybe even this year, but I'm eventually going to. That is, I think, the biggest step you could take for yourself.