Options and Opportunities (Veteran Voices)
Options and Opportunities (Veteran Voices)
Transcript
When I started doing well at community college, then I was like, OK, I can do this. And then I got started doing really well for a stretch of a few semesters. And then, I was like, all right, so I think I can handle whatever school I can apply to.
And then when I got to university, I was able to just continue that success. And then I also know a lot of veterans that came straight, well, a couple of guys I know, they were in for eight, nine years, hadn't been to high school in 10, 12 years, came straight out of service right into university. They didn't even go to community college.
And they had like a 2.7 GPA in high school. And they're being successful. So I don't think it's just amount of your intrinsic ability to retain knowledge that is important when you go to school. I think it's just your desire to put in the work. If you're willing to put in the hours studying and reading, then you'll be able to understand the material.
I think there's an illusion that people at higher institutions are just intrinsically smarter than everybody else. But that's just not the case. More times than not, they just put in more work. And if you're willing to do that, then you can go anywhere and go to any school you want.
I wouldn't have been able to go to school without the GI Bill. That's a small reason why I joined the military in the first place. It's just you get out, and I see a lot of people that just discard school inherently, just because they see a lot of bad schools out there. And they see people wasting money. And so they inherently think that every school is there for the same way.
When I got out of the Marine Corps, I found myself bound by limitations. A lot of them are the, if you don't have a degree, you can't get certain job limitations. And well, that's not absolute. It is daunting.
And anymore, after these last three, four years of going through this, it's not so much the degree anymore that is helping me succeed I feel like or enhancing my horizon, it's the fact of I have learned so much about a lot of the conversations that the world has that I was just sheltered from in the Marine Corps, that they're just, I mean, they're just not commonplace conversations there.
But I feel like a much wiser and knowledgeable person just about the things that I did even see in the Marine Corps has been they're are much more profound, I think, at this point, that they have much more substance that I can support my opinions, my justifications with a thorough knowledge. And I think that's, I don't want to say that's what everybody every person should use as their guiding principle when going through school, but it has to be more than a financially deep determination. It shouldn't be, how much money can I get this month at this school?
Not every college is meant for every person. I was about to go to an airframe and mechanic school at one point. I was at that time, that would have been the right move. And one thing led to another. I stayed in a couple more years in the military. And I ended up going to a four year school after that because that was the right move at that time.
The school I go to I know many veterans that can't go here because they have families. I don't have a family. They need to go somewhere that's better for them in that regard.
But financially, I see that as the biggest problem with veterans in my own experiences with friends, that they look for, what do I get for it right now, instead of how can I leverage this position to make a maybe not a generational shift, but definitely a life altering change in your trajectory? It's life altering going through school, if you want it to be that way. But it's not going to be if you just want to get a paycheck for January and February.
And then when I got to university, I was able to just continue that success. And then I also know a lot of veterans that came straight, well, a couple of guys I know, they were in for eight, nine years, hadn't been to high school in 10, 12 years, came straight out of service right into university. They didn't even go to community college.
And they had like a 2.7 GPA in high school. And they're being successful. So I don't think it's just amount of your intrinsic ability to retain knowledge that is important when you go to school. I think it's just your desire to put in the work. If you're willing to put in the hours studying and reading, then you'll be able to understand the material.
I think there's an illusion that people at higher institutions are just intrinsically smarter than everybody else. But that's just not the case. More times than not, they just put in more work. And if you're willing to do that, then you can go anywhere and go to any school you want.
I wouldn't have been able to go to school without the GI Bill. That's a small reason why I joined the military in the first place. It's just you get out, and I see a lot of people that just discard school inherently, just because they see a lot of bad schools out there. And they see people wasting money. And so they inherently think that every school is there for the same way.
When I got out of the Marine Corps, I found myself bound by limitations. A lot of them are the, if you don't have a degree, you can't get certain job limitations. And well, that's not absolute. It is daunting.
And anymore, after these last three, four years of going through this, it's not so much the degree anymore that is helping me succeed I feel like or enhancing my horizon, it's the fact of I have learned so much about a lot of the conversations that the world has that I was just sheltered from in the Marine Corps, that they're just, I mean, they're just not commonplace conversations there.
But I feel like a much wiser and knowledgeable person just about the things that I did even see in the Marine Corps has been they're are much more profound, I think, at this point, that they have much more substance that I can support my opinions, my justifications with a thorough knowledge. And I think that's, I don't want to say that's what everybody every person should use as their guiding principle when going through school, but it has to be more than a financially deep determination. It shouldn't be, how much money can I get this month at this school?
Not every college is meant for every person. I was about to go to an airframe and mechanic school at one point. I was at that time, that would have been the right move. And one thing led to another. I stayed in a couple more years in the military. And I ended up going to a four year school after that because that was the right move at that time.
The school I go to I know many veterans that can't go here because they have families. I don't have a family. They need to go somewhere that's better for them in that regard.
But financially, I see that as the biggest problem with veterans in my own experiences with friends, that they look for, what do I get for it right now, instead of how can I leverage this position to make a maybe not a generational shift, but definitely a life altering change in your trajectory? It's life altering going through school, if you want it to be that way. But it's not going to be if you just want to get a paycheck for January and February.