Auburn University's newest student group is now recruiting members.
The Auburn Student Veterans Association received its charter from the Student Organizations Board Monday, Feb. 1, and has been working with school officials to make Auburn an attractive educational option for servicemen and women.
As an increasing number of U.S. military veterans take advantage of the post9/11 GI Bill's financial and housing support, the ASVA is focused on facilitating a smooth transition from military to college life for veterans returning from service to pursue higher education.
It's a transition that has its own difficulties.
Marine Sgt. Adam Fountain, senior in political science, described his college experience after three combat tours in Iraq as weird.
"You're coming from a very, very organized and very adult environment, a lot of serious things going on, to college life, which is a lot of kids partying," Fountain said.
Fountain, still in active service, is now the adjutant for the ASVA and a member of the newly-formed veterans task force, working with Auburn to prepare for the future influx of student veterans.
Fountain attributed many of his initial problems to ineffective communication about finances between Auburn and the government program when the GI Bill took effect Aug. 1, 2009.
Fountain was not alone when he had to pay tuition and fees out of personal funds to avoid losing his class schedule while waiting for his GI Bill money to process.
Fellow Marine Sgt. and ASVA member Brett Mixon, junior in finance, was also in the first wave of veterans to receive benefits from the new bill.
"It was kind of rough at first," Mixon said. "For those first three months, I was going out of pocket. I had to get a loan from my grandmother actually, to keep my head above water."
With the financial aid transfers running more smoothly since the semester's start, ASVA is now focused on its task force agenda, which includes credit retention for reservists who are called to active duty mid-semester, S.O.S sessions for veterans, and counseling services. But one of ASVA's biggest reasons for organizing lies outside of the task force agenda's priorities of meetings and paperwork. "I'm seeing a lot of peer support and connections being made, which I think is probably the best thing coming from the new Auburn Student Veteran's Association," said David Diramio, College of Education professor and faculty adviser for the group.
Army reservist Emily Waide said the differences in age and motivation for learning between the average student and student veterans was one of the biggest things they discuss. "When we go to class, we don't really want to sit there and talk to somebody for the entire 50 minutes," Waide said. "We actually want to listen to the professor and learn something and do well on our test, because we paid for our college through serving in Iraq."
Waide, Mixon and other members credit ASVA, which has existed informally since fall 2008, for providing a means for veterans to integrate into university life.
"As different as we all may be, we all have this huge thing in common, and it's really good having other veterans there just to talk to, someone who understands you," Waide said.
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