Student Veterans Adapt to College Life

The war in Iraq seems far from the hustle and bustle of Telegraph Avenue, but there are still a number of veterans at UC Berkeley who say they feel its impact each and every day.

"It's part of your identity," said junior Stuart Martin, who spent eight months serving in the Middle East as a Persian translator. "It's something you carry around with you."

Martin is a facilitator of Veterans in Higher Education, a seminar on campus that was started this semester to help veterans better adjust to student life after serving in the military.

While the class is open to any veteran, instructor Ron Williams, the coordinator of Re-Entry and Veterans Programs and Services, said his students primarily served in Iraq or Afghanistan.

"The conversation, though, is far less about war and duty and more about how the students are able to make a transition here into a university," Williams said.

Martin says the class strives to be "apolitical," despite the strong political sentiments many of the classmates might have.

"This is not a group therapy

session, this class," he said. "It's there specifically to provide a forum for academic adjustment."

The class has 22 students. The campus as a whole had 151 veterans as of last spring, according to Williams. This fall 77 new veterans are attending UC Berkeley.

While some veterans said it was difficult adjusting to the campus's workload, many said the worst obstacle is the financial burden of attending college.

Under the current G.I. Bill, which lasts two years and expires next August, student veterans receive about $10,000 a year to cover expenses.

"The current G.I. Bill is completely inadequate," said Jason Deitch, a UC Berkeley alumnus who started Cal Veterans Group, a student organization for veterans on campus.

A new G.I. Bill, which would increase the amount of time veterans can receive college education funding to four academic years, is set to go into effect next August. The money would cover tuition at any four-year public university in the student's home state.

Under the current bill, some student veterans said they find themselves completely consumed by debt.

"It's destroying my life right now, not having the (new) G.I. Bill available," said junior Philippe Louis-Jean, who served as a Marine in both Japan and Iraq. "I'm over 100 days late on my credit card bills right now."

On top of financial struggles, some veterans said they have had trouble making the transition from the military member lifestyle to that of a college student.

"I ended my time in the Marine Corps as a platoon sergeant, and the way we deal with things in the Marines is different," Martin said. "I caught myself yelling at kids in discussion groups."

While some veterans agreed that this temporary adjustment process is sometimes difficult, others said their service brought a more permanent change to their behavior, especially in their attitudes toward war.

"I'm not a big political person to begin with, but it's changed my opinions to war in general," Louis-Jean said. "I'm definitely anti-this war."

Cleavon Gilman, a transfer student and San Diego resident who worked in a medical center in Iraq, said that although he was initially excited to be deployed, the Iraq war was a mistake that resulted in the deaths of innocent civilians.

"These people aren't attacking us to kill us for no reason. It's a cause and effect thing," he said.

Despite many student veterans' personal views toward combat, most feel the campus has been very accepting of their service, regardless of its reputation as a strongly anti-war institution.

Junior Julio Navarro, a transfer student who served in the U.S. Navy for eight years, said that before attending UC Berkeley, his impression of the college stemmed mainly from its image during the '60s and '70s.

"I actually have realized that the people on this campus are very open-minded and that the liberal label has been a label on Berkeley for its open-mindedness," he said.

Tags: VETERANS, IRAQ WAR