Jim O’Rourke had a less-than-typical freshman year experience. At 24 years old, he transferred to UW-Madison out of the military, where he had been taking college courses in his free time. Unable to connect with his younger classmates, O’Rourke described that first semester as isolating.
“I didn’t have a lot of friends—a lot of the guys don’t have that typical experience where you move into the dorms and have more or less an assigned friend group,” O’Rourke said. “I imagine that’s how it kind of works. I have no idea.”
But weeks into that first semester, O’Rourke found a community in the Veterans, Educators and Traditional Students organization—a smaller group of people he said spoke his language and made him feel at home.
O’Rourke came across VETS through his roommate, the organization’s former president. He used the office as a study spot and a place to print for free, until he found himself becoming more actively involved. Six weeks in, he was asked to serve as vice president.
“Since then, I’ve just been actively involved, you know, slowly learning more and more about what we do here. That we’re not just the veteran’s club—we have a real mission to serve the students,” O’Rourke said.
Now serving as the organization’s president, O’Rourke described that mission as threefold: an academic resource for traditional students looking to gain insight into the veteran experience, an advocacy group for issues that student veterans face and a source of support for the transitioning veteran.
“To come straight off of that very intense and very rigid structure [of the military], it’s helpful to have a bunch of guys that can speak the same language and can empathize with what you’re going through because we’ve been there,” O’Rourke said.
According to O’Rourke, VETS has accomplished more than its intended mission: It’s become a community for student veterans searching for peers, particularly those their own age.
UW-Madison freshman and Marine Corps veteran Torrey Tiedeman, 23, said the age gap between himself and his fellow freshman class has been the biggest challenge in adapting back to regular life, a sentiment shared by most student veterans on campus, according to O’Rourke.
“Socially, admittedly, it’s been kind of tough,” Tiedeman said. “I’ve met older people through the VETS office that I have been able to go out with and be social with. But on a day-to-day basis, I don’t want to say it’s frustrating, but I’m definitely seeking out an older crowd.”
The issues that student veterans face aren’t limited to the age differences: Returning to an academic setting after years of military service proves to be a challenge, as well, and can even be intimidating, Tiedeman said. But for some, the standards set by the military translate over to the academic standards they hold themselves to.
“My first semester was definitely an eye-opener because when you’re in the military, they’re very direct about what they want you to do, and how they want you to do it. And in college, it’s just ‘yup, do your homework’,” said UW-Madison freshman and Navy veteran Talmage Kegley, 25.
He added that he still holds himself to the standard set in his military training: Perfection is the standard, and excellence is only tolerated.
But that standard can be hard to meet when the challenges of transitioning back into regular life get in the way. When returning from high-pressure situations, some find themselves unable to escape the hypervigilant military mindset, said UW-Madison senior and Marine Corps veteran Nic Harsy, 27.
“Little things become big things,” Harsy said. “No one else notices the guy dropping his water bottle or reaching into his backpack or twirling his pencil. But to people with that hypervigilance, they check in to see if that’s a threat. You could spend half your lecture making sure nothing’s happening around you.”
In recent years, more resources have become available to help student veterans transition. Just an elevator ride away from the VETS office, the UW-Madison Veteran Services and Military Assistance Center opened in May 2014, creating the first all-encompassing resource epicenter for veterans looking to get information on the benefits available to them.
“I went through what we offered, and the only thing was the student vet’s organization, and that was it, not even a brochure,” said Assistant Dean of Students John Bechtol, who was brought on in 2008 as the point of contact for student veterans. “It was really up to people just kind of hunting around… you simply had to find where to go.”
Bechtol, a retired U.S. Army veteran, headed a veteran’s needs assessment, which led to the development of the facility. Now on the 10th floor of the Student Activity Center, the office acts as the one-stop location for veteran resources, for those looking for benefits information or for those needing support in their transition, which Harsy said is important in adjusting to civilian life.
“There are a lot of resources out there. Not all of them are branded as such—like, hey this is a vet place to go to. But try anything that’s in your field,” Harsy said. “Anything that creates a community, a network. Anything that helps you adjust and become another student. It helps.”
