Going Back to School
Getting past first day jitters.
by Steve N. Czetli

The first day of school. Sweaty palms. Many unknowns. One thing for sure. This is different than reporting for duty as you have done countless times in your military career. Your authority is not sewn on your shoulder and your finest moments displayed on your chest. And you are older, maybe considerably older, than many who will soon be your peers. Never mind that you have taken live fire; disarmed IED’s, maybe killed people in life and death situations. This is the first day of college and you are about to be tested in ways that you have never been tested before. What matters? What doesn’t?

What is the demeanor of choice?
Gena Verdugo, a military coordinator at the two-year Rio Salada Community College in Phoenix, AZ deals with such anxieties almost daily as she shepherds classes of veterans through both online and on campus programs toward degrees in mostly technical subjects.

The anxieties are real, she says, despite the life-threatening situations these men and women have found themselves in. The reason: Mostly a misunderstanding by other students about who they are and what they have done.

“I’ve worked directly with the military over the past,” says Verdugo. “And what I’ve seen is just the opposite of the stereotype. Instead of inflexible and stiff, they typically tend to be flexible. They know they’re in a situation that’s different than they’ve been in before. And what they’ve learned in the service is to get a task done, not just one way to do it.

“I think where their challenge comes in is that things are so structured in the military – they have the expectation that things in a civilian world will be structured as well.” Verdugo says she has never been in the service, but grew up as a Navy brat, following her father around the world and growing up in a military family. As a result, she says her demeanor is military and many people mistake her for a veteran.

“I’ve never felt completely comfortable in a civilian world,” she said. “Never understanding why. So I’ve gone just the opposite direction. This job has been an opportunity for me to share the things that made me uncomfortable.”

For instance, in one class she teaches for military advisors from other colleges, she dresses in fatigues which has shock value, she says. “It makes the audience recognize how some of these soldiers feel when they first attend college.”

Vets do have more decisions to make than they’re used to, she said. “Good, bad or otherwise they have a lot more decisions to make. Part of our job is to help them decide what those decisions are and why you would choose one or the other and give them those reasons, give them those options.”

Rules are another area of difference. Rules in the military are to be followed to the letter. In the civilian world, they are more easily bent.

“And there is definitely a difference in the demeanor between somebody who has been in the military and someone who hasn’t. You can spot them a mile a way.”

Overall, however, Verdugo says, other students tend to look up to people with a military background, so that helps them fit in.