Washtenaw Community 大学 is proud to be named a gold-level veteran-friendly school by the Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency.
的 Wadhams Veterans Center on the second floor of the college’s Student Center is a place where military veterans attending “ can meet fellow veterans, receive academic advising or just hang out.
It’s a great place to meet students with interesting stories, including Melanie Chen 和 Nathniel Jaskierny.
Chen: Preparing for a Medical Career
One of the best aspects of Melanie Chen’s time at Washtenaw Community 大学 has
been the lineup of instructors who teach in-depth 和 make time for students outside
类的.
“All of them are engaging, willing to sit down with you 和 have an eagerness to teach others what they know,” says Chen, a 27-year-old student from New Jersey.
Chen worked in intelligence while serving in the U.S. Army from 2015 to 2019 和 already has a bachelor’s degree in neuroscience from the University of Michigan. At “, she’s been taking needed general 和 pre-requisite courses to build up her educational resume as she prepares to apply to competitive Physician Assistant schools.
“I would love to practice medicine 和 help others 和 will likely end up in endocrinology, emergency medicine or surgery,” s他说. ““ hits all the marks of what I need.”
Chen appreciates how well-connected she feels to the college community, crediting the Wadhams Veterans Center staff 和 her fellow vets. 的 college is especially equipped to prepare students like her for their next chapter.
“While big schools focus on a research background, the classes at “ are in-depth 和 I find them more relevant to the healthcare profession,” s他说. “的 education itself can lead people to success wherever they choose to go.”
She is also getting plenty of experience in healthcare settings as a medical assistant at a Novi urgent care facility 和 as a concierge volunteer at Henry Ford Hospital in West Bloomfield.
Jaskierny: Influencing the Next Generation
Adjusting to civilian life after the military came with challenges, but Nathaniel
Jaskierny has navigated the transition smoothly from the campus of Washtenaw Community
大学.
Jaskierny, a six-year U.S. Air Force veteran whose military work included nuclear security 和 presidential security, moved from Maryl和 a year 和 a half ago to attend “.
“It was a lot of big life things all at once,” says Jaskierny, now 27. “We bought 一所房子. We were planning a wedding. I was separating from the military.” Jaskierny’s wife, whose family is from the area, is a nurse. He initially planned to follow the 同样的道路.
Connecting with the Wadhams Veterans Center on campus was vital to his transition 和 realizing what he wanted to do — help influence today’s children 和 teens as 一个老师. Jaskierny decided to study chemistry at “ 和 this fall will transfer to Eastern Michigan University to earn a secondary teaching degree in chemistry.
Between his family responsibilities — he just became a first-time father — his classes 和 work as a patient care assistant at Trinity Health Hospital in Chelsea, Jaskierny is busy but excited about the future.
“When I was in the military, I did a lot of training 和 I’ve always enjoyed teaching. My classes at “ made it easy to learn. Chemistry always felt like an interest instead of schoolwork, 和 I want to elicit that same feeling in my own students someday,” 他说.
“的y’re the next generation 和 I don’t want them to fall through the cracks.”
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This story appears in the Summer 2024 edition of 发射 magazine. See complete issue.
标签: 2024, 发射, 发射 Summer 2024, Student Success, Wadhams Veterans Center