6 Things Veterans Can Expect When They Head to College

College/University experiences are and can be innovative and fun.

After leaving the military in 2010, I began college in 2011 and obtained a Bachelors and Masters, back-to-back in Healthcare Informatics with the same motivation and tenacity, as I had in the military. I was either the same age or older than my professors. I've had every road-block thrown at me, like working p-t, and unemployment, house and vehicle falling apart, still doing my household domestic stuff, and even had legal trouble, and still managed to keep a 3.5-3.8 GPA. I'm sure my comments did not answer the question listed above.

I would also add that there may be times you need to be resilient, take that military training and hunt the good stuff. I did this a few times when I would see the syllabus starting a new class. Sometimes those are a shock to see day one (or before class even starts) when you see a final project; minimum 25 pages, APA format, 3 academic sources, 3 non-professional sources, minimum 3 citations from each source, graphics and tables encouraged, and oh yeah...40%-60% of your grade. You need confidence and resilience when seeing that shock, eventually it becomes commonplace.

Also, many times classes will do group assignments, pre formed groups or find your own. I have found that several times its not just babysitting, but also the motivating voice. You want the group to do well so you get a good grade, but you don't want to do all the work. Sometimes you have to kick a fellow student in the proverbial butt to get them to start contributing. Those times, I am so glad to have polished my skills in tact and discipline being an NCO.