Job Hunt: Infinity

My last tweet was April 29th. Well, the last one you probably saw, because I did respond to one person who tweets mainly about baseball and hockey. He's also our local Single A baseball team radio announcer, you likely don't follow him. Anyway. I took part in a conversation that I found really interesting. It was also full of assumptions. So, I did what I did in grad school: I challenged those assumptions. I treat Twitter like a giant grad school class. I respect you as a person, I probably follow you for a reason or follow a conversation for a reason, and if you're participating it's probably also for a reason. So, if I disagree with someone in a conversation, it's likely that I don't actually disagree with the person. I probably disagree with their opinion/answer/tweet. I might even agree with whatever was said, but I'm trying to poke holes into it so I can learn more about it. I like to consider things in their entirety, and I believe that your idea...

I have a jumble of thoughts inspired by a few different conversations on Twitter the past few days. They're a loosely linked, so I figured it would be easiest to just get it all down in one post. Let's see if anyone can follow this mess... Opinions Twitter is a place where we share opinions. Sometimes they're part of a larger, planned discussion. Sometimes one person's thought(s) can cause a flurry of ideas and conversation. We share a lot of opinions. Some people share opinions as if they're facts or as if their experience is the only experience. Anything else is wrong or nonexistent. X is the only way to find a job. Y is the only way I can do Z to be authentic to myself. Going through A and B is the only path to take. My problem with these: everyone's path or story is true to them. We can't devalue someone's path because it's different. My favorite ones have to do with valuing our knowledge and skills: If you don't identify with X, you...

Today I learned of a Marine friend who is a new arrival at a new base as of this morning. He is at this new base for training, and it's an Army base. This Marine was told there was no housing available on base for him, no secure space to store his valuables, and to book a hotel room and rental car on his own dime (to be reimbursed, of course). All resources he tried to access told him that they couldn't help him because he was a Marine. He's given a per diem while training, but was not told his per diem amount. If he goes over his per diem amount, the excess amount would come out of his pay. A few things before we move further into this story. First, this is not a new or uncommon phenomenon. It's scary and frustrating, but not new. Second, with the right people the military community can feel like a family. Regardless of branch, rank, or field, they are all in the same boat. Third, the VA has a bad reputation, and it's earned it. But, there are some great people i...

There are several training programs in the country that help faculty and staff understand student veterans. One is Green Zone Training offered by The University of North Carolina and another is the Veterans Educator Training and Support (V.E.T.S.) Program at the University of Colorado. The one I’m going to review is the VET NET Ally program (Thomas, 2010). The VET NET Ally Program was created for California State University, Long Beavh in order to fulfill the need for a safe space for veterans and is modeled after the Safe Zone Ally training program (Thomas, 2010). It offers four hours of training for faculty and staff and includes a panel of student veterans (Thomas, 2010). There are four theme areas: program purpose, policies and procedures, military and post-military culture and transition, and personal identity issues (Thomas, 2010). Similar to Safe Zone training, participants are given a decal for displaying in offices or workspaces (Thomas, 2010). “[T]he primary goals of t...

There are many different programs, groups, and organizations that support student veterans. The ones here are nationally recognized, but they definitely aren’t the only ones out there. Do you know of one or work with one? Add it to the comments! The first student veteran organizations were formed after World War II when veterans began attending college, but many of these groups shrunk as that generation moved on (Summerlot et al., 2009). the first known organization was the American Veterans Committee (Summerlot et al., 2009). Organizations help veterans connect with others with military backgrounds, provide a safe space, and can assist with creating change on campus (Summerlot et al., 2009). Student Veterans of America (SVA) was formed in the Spring of 2007 (Summerlot et al., 2009). This was after veterans from Operation Eduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom returned home (Our Story). It began as student veterans on a campus to provide support for one another, and in 2008 differ...

Here are descriptions of some of the financial aid available to military personnel and veterans. All of these are subject to change, because, well, the government runs them so there are no guarantees. Also, there may be programs at the state or local level, such as institutional scholarships, that aren’t mentioned formally here, but they do exist. For those still in the military : Tuition Assistance, provides $4,500 annually to active-duty personnel to attend college during off-duty time (McGrevey & Kehrer, 2009) Higher Education Relief Opportunities for Students; established in 2003, offers financial protections to active-duty military personnel “during a war, military operation, or national emergency” (McGrevey & Kehrer, 2009), also includes relief to activated personnel repaying student loans (McGrevey & Kehrer, 2009). Servicemembers Civil Relief Act, also known as the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Civil Relief Act of 1940; offers financial, civil, and legal prote...

So, first, let’s start by saying not all military veterans have PTSD or TBI, my husband doesn’t have either. Not all military veterans attending college have mental health issues (Baechtold & De Sawal, 2009). Not all military veterans are going to be disabled, and if they are considered disabled by the VA, you might not know it. If there is a student on your campus with PTSD, they are not likely to have it so bad that it’s out of control, if it was that bad, they wouldn’t be on campus. Not without a lot of support. Also: military veterans are not the only people who can be diagnosed with PTSD. Anyone who has ever had a traumatic experience can be diagnosed with PTSD. Anyone. Now, onto the research: Women military veterans are less likely to be diagnosed with PTSD than men (Baechtold & De Sawal, 2009). Situations that are stressful to 18-24 year old men may not be as stressful to women (Baechtold & De Sawal, 2009). Sexual harassment or assault while in the military is consid...