(Video Credit: Wilfredo Razo)
As Veterans Day is here, veterans as Wilbur Wright College students celebrate the holiday with family or by themselves. At Wilbur Wright College, the Veterans utilized the Veterans Services Center, which grants them accommodations or benefits. The Veterans are thankful for the Veterans Services Center providing them with advantages to succeed in and graduate from Wilbur Wright College. Overwhelmed with the Veterans' love and appreciation, the head of the Veterans Services Center, Bryan Soske Sr., was interviewed and answered some questions:
What is the Veterans Services Center's clear focus?
"Our main focus is taking care of the Veterans from their service time until they are walking across the stage grabbing their diploma–and everything in between, help them register for classes, apply for their state and federal benefits, and do their applications for the school. Little nuances of school like advising and all that stuff. We also give them a place here for camaraderie."
How does the Veterans Services Center approach that clear focus?
"Everybody who serves in the military, regardless of their branch–it's a brotherhood. Outside of this room, it is a little chaotic for us at times because it is not what we are used to. The brotherhood that we have camaraderie--it brings everybody back to their comfort level. We are all a brotherhood. We all look out for each other. Regardless of anything, there's no black and white–we're all green."
How many people have utilized the Veterans Services Center?
"Right now, veterans-wise, we have 117 veterans enrolled this semester. Since I got here eight years ago, we had over 9,000 people coming in the room."
What services do you offer to those who use the Veterans Services Center?
"I do their applications to the school. I help them with their financial aid paperwork if they need it, as far as my level of knowledge goes. If it gets too hard on financial aid, I do their state and federal education benefits. I do referral services. So, if somebody has problems, I refer them to agencies, whether it is in the house of the school or through the Veterans Affairs, or just word of mouth."
What services do you not offer in the Veterans Services Center?
"Recruiting…I am not a recruiter for any branches of the military. A quick Google search…all of the recruiters will give you an address where you should go if you are trying to join the military. That is not what we do here. We probably get three or four people that come in a week, thinking that I am going to sign them up for the army."
Lastly, what would the Veterans Services Center say about Veterans Day?
"I am grateful for everybody who was there before me and the outpouring of support I have gotten from my service–it's overwhelming. Every one of these guys in this room has played a role, making that day possible, and that goes on. We have a plaque for the people who died in World War I and were part of the school. It's very important, and the city and the state are very good at taking care of their veterans."
Bryan Soske Sr. was in the presence of three interviewed veterans inside the Veterans Services Center, and the three veterans' names are Mauricio Briseno, Derrick Evans, and Miguel Munguia. Mauricio Briseno–the first interviewee–answered six questions:
How many years have you served in the military?
"I did my four years. I still got my four in the IRR. I will be done in 2026."
What was your experience like in the military?
"I mean, it was a mix of good and bad, you know, depending on the day."
What were your highest achievements in the military?
"My highest achievements, in the military, I could not tell you because there is so much and so little. Depending on what you look at, you know. Oh, I got to corporal. I got to E4."
What were your lowest moments in the military?
"My lowest moments, man. My lowest moment, man, I would say was on the top of the mountain–it was freezing out. I had frost all over. It was funny, but it was cold. This was in Camp Pendleton."
Overall, what would you say to those considering a career path in the military?
"Do it, literally. What's there to lose? Four years of your life–that is nothing."
Lastly, what would you like to say in honor of Veterans Day?
"I still do not know the significance of the holiday,"
When interviewed, Derrick Evans, 35, answered the same questions below as well:
How many years have you served in the military?
"I served for nine and a half years."
What was your experience like in the military?
"It was fun. I mean, one of the easiest jobs I have had, so it is good."
What were your highest achievements in the military?
"Military is a team-effort and team-based thing, so achievements were in group efforts. We all chipped in to achieve, come, and go."
What were your lowest moments in the military?
"It comes with the territory, and it is going to happen, which is why you have teams. You have people to talk to. You have resources in the military."
Overall, what would you say to those considering a career path in the military?
"We live in the age of information, you know. Internet…scour the internet. Veterans are everywhere. If you see a veteran, talk to them and see what their experience has been like."
Lastly, what would you like to say in honor of Veterans Day?
"Somebody is protecting the freedom and rights that we have here."
The last interviewee, Miguel Munguia, 21, also replied to the same six questions:
How many years have you served in the military?
"Actually, I am currently serving. I am in the National Guard Army. I have been serving for about to be four years on January 26."
What was your experience like in the military?
"It is going pretty well. It is a part-time experience. It is two days out of the month and two weeks out of the summer. It is a part-time service, and every month, I get to do what the military offers, whatever they tell me what to do."
What were your highest achievements in the military?
"A highest achievement was getting a secondary job, so my first job right now is as a mechanic. I am a 91 Bravo. Another highest achievement was getting a second job, an 88 Mike. There are very few people who do not have more than one job in the military. Usually, they go for one job, and that's it. Me...my highest achievement is that I get to do that. I get to have more than one job. I can have three, four, or five jobs."
What were your lowest moments in the military?
"My lowest points, again, pertain to my job. As a mechanic, I am entrusted to take care of and maintain my vehicles. My lowest points have been actually recent when we were on a mission, and our vehicle went down. It was not a failure of anyone; it was a failure like the vehicle itself failed. It was kind of, you know, a low point. Because I felt responsible, personally responsible, for that vehicle. I was driving it, and I was doing it."
Overall, what would you say to those considering a career path in the military?
"To the people going to the military, you have to talk with a lot of people in the military. Some people going to the military came to me and wanted advice. I told them it's not for everyone. It's not for everyone, and it takes a very specific mindset to get through that portion of the training and the going through it. Make sure you get things done. It takes a very specific mindset of people to go into the military."
Lastly, what would you like to say in honor of Veterans Day?
"Veterans Day, I honor it on my own. I honor it with my brothers. Everyone in this office is my brother, no matter what. We all get together and just share experiences. Veterans Day, for me, is another day that I can appreciate everyone to my left, right, front, and back. That they have my back. They are with me. We all went through the same thing together."
In the Veterans Services Center, the three attendees connected with other veterans because of their experiences in the military. Bryan Soske Sr, the head of the Veterans Services Center, was grateful for his connections with all veterans in the Veterans Services Center, labeling them as his "brotherhood." Soske and the veterans are honored for their military service on Veterans Day.
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