Dave Miller

Facilities man­age­ment, sophomore

Branch: Army

Why did you decide to serve?

“I actu­ally come from a mil­i­tary back­ground. My dad, grandpa and cousins served, it’s what my fam­ily does. I joined in 2003 and I always wanted to do it.”

What impact does that expe­ri­ence have on your life now?

“It does give you a dif­fer­ent out­look on life com­pletely. It makes you mature among a lot of your friends. You’re a dif­fer­ent per­son when you leave. Your respon­si­bil­ity increases. You kind of hope that being good at one thing makes you good at another – such as being a good sol­dier makes you a good student.”

Kevin Hill

Welding, sopho­more

Branch: Marine Corps

Why did you decide to serve?

“There are really so many rea­sons. I felt the duty — like it was some­thing I should do. My dad was in the army; I joined the Marines. The school ben­e­fits are a rea­son – they pay for your col­lege. There’s the phys­i­cal fit­ness; it improves your health. I was anti-social in high school. Joining the Marines brought me out of my shell.”

What impact does that expe­ri­ence have on your life now?

“The biggest one: It taught me how to deal with peo­ple, net­work a lot and college.”

Steven Schijanow

Automotive engi­neer­ing, senior

Branch: Navy

Why did you decide to serve?

“It’s a super ben­e­fi­cial expe­ri­ence. It ben­e­fits me in a lot of areas that I’m not even aware of. If I didn’t serve, I would be dead or in jail.”

What impact does that expe­ri­ence have on your life now?

“It opens up a lot more oppor­tu­ni­ties, such as help with col­lege and social net­work­ing. It opened up the oppor­tu­nity to be in this group and help oth­ers, help in the Veterans Affairs and Disabled American Veterans. It brings more job oppor­tu­ni­ties. The sto­ries are the biggest ben­e­fit. It’s some­thing I’m going to have for the rest of my life – it’s just crazy, old sto­ries. It’s a big old chunk of expe­ri­ence to follow.

Bob Mester

HVAC, sopho­more

Branch: Navy

Why did you decide to serve?

“It was arbi­trary duties. My friend’s father sug­gested I join the mil­i­tary. The rea­son I joined the Navy was because they were the only ones open around lunchtime. They were real proud of it. I did 10 years in Japan.”

What impact does that expe­ri­ence have on your life now?

“It’s got every­thing to do with it. There is noth­ing it hasn’t affected. When I first tried to go to col­lege, I wasn’t focused. The mil­i­tary helped me to focus. I spent 10 years over­seas and I worked for a gov­ern­ment con­trac­tor. There isn’t one part of my adult life that hasn’t been affected by it. It teaches you to take a bad sit­u­a­tion and make the best of it.”

Curtis Smalligan

Criminal jus­tice, sophomore

Branch: Marine Corps

Why did you decide to serve?

“Family tra­di­tion. At the time, I didn’t have enough to pay my bills. It was either move back in with my par­ents or serve. I chose to serve – it was a chance to serve my coun­try and be a part of some­thing big­ger than myself. I wanted to be unselfish and there’s eco­nomic stability.

What impact does that expe­ri­ence have on your life now?

“More self-discipline, more respon­si­bil­ity. I’m more focused. I can effec­tively man­age my time. I wash my clothes on a reg­u­lar basis and put them away instead of leav­ing them lay­ing all over the floor. I’m a lot more focused on stuff. You get a bet­ter grasp. A lot of vet­er­ans are tak­ing 15 or more credit hours. We can han­dle that. There’s the Post 9/11 G.I. Bill, the VA Home, the net­work that’s out there for sup­port. Veterans can always talk to each other and have a respect for each other no mat­ter what branch they served in. It’s a good way to break the ice. “

Aaron Jackowski

Pre-pharmacy, sopho­more

Branch: Marine Corps.

Why did you decide to serve?

“I just wanted to make a dif­fer­ence as soon as pos­si­ble. I enlisted when I was 17. I’ve always wanted to be a Marine since grade school.”

What impact does that expe­ri­ence have on your life now?

“It opens up a lot of oppor­tu­ni­ties. I became a lot more focused and a lot more responsible.”

Luke Nelson

Electrical/electronics engi­neer­ing tech­nol­ogy, sophomore

Branch: Navy

Why did you decide to serve?

“Shortly after 9/11, I felt com­pelled to do it at the time; I always had an urge to serve.”

What impact does that expe­ri­ence have on your life now?

“Being in the Navy Nuclear Power Program, I learned a lot of dif­fer­ent ways to study effec­tively and think about life in general.”