{"id":12111,"date":"2012-04-06T08:45:19","date_gmt":"2012-04-06T12:45:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/?p=12111"},"modified":"2012-04-11T09:12:35","modified_gmt":"2012-04-11T13:12:35","slug":"combat-veterans-find-home-in-exclusive-wright-state-classes","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/2012\/04\/06\/combat-veterans-find-home-in-exclusive-wright-state-classes\/","title":{"rendered":"Combat veterans find home in exclusive Wright State classes"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>They\u2019ve traded the battlefield for the classroom, but they still hear the echoes of gunfire and bombs. And most of their fellow students come from a different world.<\/p>\n

For students who are striving to adjust to a world of books and term papers after a tour of duty in a war-torn country, Wright State University has created military-only classes for students who are veterans or currently serving in the U.S. military. Military-only classes, created by the Veterans and Military-Connected Committee with the support of faculty, offer a safe space for those who are returning from combat situations and a comfortable atmosphere for veterans.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey may be freshmen in terms of where they are in the system, but they are mature beyond their years,\u201d said Larry James, dean of the School of Professional Psychology.<\/p>\n

Though the School of Professional Psychology is separate from the Department of Psychology, James volunteered to teach the military-only section of Psychology 101. James is a veteran: a retired army colonel with 22 years of active duty under his belt. He is former chair of the psychology department at Walter Reed Army Medical Center.<\/p>\n

James said that Wright State is one of very few institutions that offer a program like this. University of Louisville, George Mason and Cleveland State offer similar military-friendly classes.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are lots of programs, particularly at state schools, that give out-of-state veterans in-state tuition,\u201d he said, \u201cbut in terms of coming up with a comprehensive program\u2026I don\u2019t know if there\u2019s anybody else out there doing what we do.\u201d<\/p>\n

James and English instructor Sarah McGinley teach the two military-only classes offered at Wright State. Both said that in the future, they hope the program will expand to offer many general education classes.<\/p>\n

The idea, James and McGinley stressed, is not to create a separate track for military students, but to ease them into college life until they\u2019re ready for larger, more diverse classes.<\/p>\n

These military-only classes are also ideal for students still involved in the military. The attendance policies are flexible, allowing students to travel for training or for other duties.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a debt there, to some extent,\u201d said McGinley. \u201cNow that they\u2019re back and readjusting, I think it\u2019s incumbent on institutions to accommodate them.\u201d<\/p>\n

McGinley tries to do just that in her class, where her students often take breaks to get up, stretch their muscles, even go out for a short walk.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome of them are physically uncomfortable in the classroom: they hurt, they need to get up and walk around,\u201d she said. \u201cI know that\u2019s not a lack of respect. These guys usually have a solid reason for that.\u201d<\/p>\n

So what do the students think about these classes? Kyle Holzhauer, a sergeant in the National Guard who formerly served as a U.S. Army cavalry scout for five years of active duty, appreciates the camaraderie in Dr. James\u2019 classroom. \u201cMy separation from active duty was extremely recent, so sometimes it\u2019s hard for me to relate to others,\u201d he said. \u201cBut in here, everybody knows what you\u2019ve been through.\u201d<\/p>\n

His classmates all agree.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019re sitting with people who know who you are,\u201d said Joshua Swan, a staff sergeant in the U.S. Army. Swan is currently on active duty and working full time for the National Guard. He was particularly grateful for the flexibility and understanding of his classmates and professor when he missed the first several weeks of class for work.<\/p>\n

\u201cI met with him before class started,\u201d said James. \u201cI sent him the material, we\u2019ve got it all laid out how he\u2019s going to catch up. And trust me: a military kid, he will catch up.\u201d<\/p>\n

That type of discipline is common in these classes. There\u2019s no texting under the table or interrupting the professor.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe pretty much respect each other,\u201d said Zachary Davis, a corporal in the United States Marine Corp infantry and one of James\u2019 students. \u201cIf you\u2019re in a large class, a lot of people don\u2019t respect the professor at all. In a military-only class, that just isn\u2019t going to happen.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mutual respect, hard work and understanding are a huge part of what makes these classes special. But fun is definitely a part of the picture too. James, McGinley and their students are serious about the subjects they\u2019re studying, but that doesn\u2019t mean the classes are grim and silent.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey know how to strike this balance well, between being relaxed, being a little bit goofy, and \u2018all right, now we\u2019re doing this,\u2019\u201d McGinley said.<\/p>\n

The instructors are trying to strike a balance too; they want to provide support for military students, but they don\u2019t want to isolate them in a separate track. These classes are all about helping students integrate into campus life. The classes are a way for Wright State to continue its partnership with the military and help students who might need the safe space McGinley and James\u2019 classrooms provide.<\/p>\n

They also hope that Wright State will become a first choice for many military students looking for places to apply. The school has been rated a military-friendly school by G.I. Jobs <\/em>and Military Advanced Education<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re consistently a military-friendly school,\u201d said McGinley. \u201cWe should be the go-to spot.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

They\u2019ve traded the battlefield for the classroom, but they still hear the echoes of gunfire and bombs. And most of their fellow students come from a different world. Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":20,"featured_media":10182,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[722,729,725,715,719],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-12111","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-academics","category-around-campus","category-home-news-sidebar","category-news","category-special-categories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12111","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/20"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12111"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12111\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":12225,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12111\/revisions\/12225"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10182"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12111"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12111"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/webapp2.wright.edu\/web1\/newsroom\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12111"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}