Veterans transitioning into student life

STORY AND PHOTO BY JAKE PARRISH

(above) United States Army veteran and Western student Merhdad Brian Baldwin poses for a portrait on Thursday, March 5, 2015. Baldwin served in the Army for five years, and will be graduating with a bachelor’s degree in management information systems in June.

While Johnathan Gilmore’s friends were sending in college applications during his senior year of high school, he was signing up for the Marines. While most of his friends were in college, Gilmore had just begun his seven-month deployment in Afghanistan on his first convoy mission with the United States Marines. Instead of dodging homework assignments, Gilmore was dodging shrapnel being blown into the side of his Humvee, and taking shelter from mortar fire.

The experiences Gilmore and many other veterans face during their time in the armed forces do not stay in the confines of the military world. These experiences are permeated into their lives after leaving that environment behind, and difficulties often surface during the transition out of the military. Gilmore, now a 23-year-old student at Whatcom Community College, is working through the transition from the military to the classroom, and feels the clash of the two vastly different worlds.

Gilmore left the military in August of 2014 four ranks above an entry-level private as an E4 Marine Corporal. After four years of active duty, he made use of his Post-9/11 Servicemen’s Readjustment Act, or G.I. Bill. This bill pays for three full years worth of college tuition, including summer school, at any university and gives the veterans in-state tuition.

Gilmore is one of the more than 1 million veterans using their G.I. Bill benefits in 2015 to attend universities around the country. This is an attractive benefit for veterans of all ages, and college classrooms are filling with more veterans every year.

The number of veterans using their G.I. Bill benefits rose from 500,000 in 2009 to over 1 million in 2013, according to the United States Department of Veterans Affairs’ website.

The military appealed to Gilmore, and he joined immediately after graduating high school in 2010. After completing basic training and being stationed in Hawaii, Gilmore was deployed to the Helmand Province in Southern Afghanistan. He was back in Hawaii seven months later, and ended his service in August of 2014.

Coming back to civilian and student life has been confusing for Gilmore, he says. When he left the Marines, he initially felt on-edge and anxious. He had to reacquaint his body and mind away from thinking like a Marine on patrol in the deserts of Afghanistan to that of a student on a college campus.

“When you get back from Iraq, your first three months are spent in a pink cloud of confidence and invincibility,” he says.

Going from being constantly on alert and living an adrenaline-filled life in the military, to the calmer life of a student was jarring for him, Gilmore says.

“I can remember having this insane amount of energy,” he says. “People used to think I was on drugs.”

Gilmore felt at first like the transition from marine to student was invigorating, like a giant weight was lifted off his chest, as if he was finally free, he says.

“It was really fun to get away from all of the bullshit of the Marines,” he says. “It was a relief. Then it slowly changed into an empty, ‘What the hell do I do now?’ feeling.”

This feeling sometimes makes it difficult to relate to other students, and people who haven’t been in the military, Gilmore says. Although this is becoming easier every day for Gilmore. and other student veterans, relating to the life experiences of non-veteran students still doesn’t always come easily.

“Who’s going to understand? How am I supposed to tell somebody exactly what I saw?” he says. “Nobody is going to understand until they see it.”

Merhdad Brian Baldwin, 31, is a United States Army veteran and Western Washington University student and he experienced similar friction with social relationships after leaving the armed forces.

“It’s incredibly hard, because they just don’t understand the mindset you get into after something like that,” Baldwin says, reflecting on his 5 years of active service in the Army. “I took a humanities class last quarter, and I brought up military stories and people looked at me like I was crazy — it’s extremely difficult to connect to the typical student.”

Baldwin joined the Army in October of 2005 when he was 21 years old. After his service contract with the Army was involuntarily extended, Baldwin spent a year in Iraq from 2009 to 2010. He left the military in June of 2010 and traveled for three months before beginning classes at Cascadia Community College in Bothell, Washington. Bellingham was his next move, and in 2012 Baldwin transferred to Western to complete his bachelor’s degree.

“When you get back from Iraq, your first three months are spent in a pink cloud of confidence and invincibility,” he says. “People see that, they see it coming from your pores. You just have this great aura. But after a while it starts to calm down.”

Personal problems led to substance abuse issues after his military service, he says.

After three years of combating his substance abuse problems, Baldwin is now sober, and graduating from Western with a bachelor’s degree in management information systems.

While the transition from the armed forces to civilian may provoke struggles, many student veterans believe the military has helped prepare them to be effective students. Gilmore and Baldwin both find themselves able to learn new information quickly because they were trained in the fast-paced military environment for so many years.

The discipline, work delegation and time management skills taken from the military have carried over as well, and they take school very seriously because of what they have gone through to get that spot in the lecture hall, both Gilmore and Baldwin say.

As more veterans are going to university, resources to help them along with their college careers are more necessary than ever. Western and Whatcom both have veterans’ centers on their campuses, and other universities in Washington State have additional places on campus dedicated to veterans. These centers are considered safe havens for veterans where they can connect with each other or use it as a place of refuge. They can also get help navigating the massive amount of paperwork that must be completed for receiving the most veteran benefits.

“I feel as if I have a familial support system there,” says Gilmore. “I’m able to go in there and connect with people who will understand where I’m coming from.”

Going back to school is a new chapter for veterans, Gilmore and Baldwin say.

“I know it’s cliché, but once a soldier always a soldier,” Baldwin says. Their memories in the military will never leave them, but both are ready to transition to a new life; one with a different purpose

“I usually don’t tell anyone in the classroom that I was in the military,” Baldwin says. “While I am proud of myself and my service, that was a long time ago, and I’m not here to brag about it. I’d like to think of myself as a scholar now.”