War veterans at MSU adjust to campus life

Arriving on campus as an 18-year-old freshman can feel unnerving at times, especially if you don’t know anyone.

But arriving on campus as a freshman in your 20s — as well as coming in as a war veteran — can be isolating, some MSU veterans said.

“The weirdest thing is the age difference,” said Andrew Wisniewski, 21, a history freshman and reserve in the U.S. Army who spent seven months in Iraq. “It’s (OK) now because I know people from my high school, but in a couple years I won’t know anybody.”

For student veterans, often about five years older than their fellow students, finding other students with their common interests can be a challenge, some said. And networking between veterans is almost nonexistent, political science junior and U.S. Navy veteran Matt Patton said.

“It’s not so much that there aren’t veterans (on campus), I just haven’t found a legitimate way to get in touch with people,” said Patton, 29, who served four years in Afghanistan.

Victor LaPorte, a 23-year-old Wayne State University student and a member of the U.S. Marine Corps Reserves, has been working with Student Veterans of America at the state level. One of the group’s primary concerns, he said, is pushing for more veteran groups on campuses in Michigan.

“Just being with other people who share the same experience is important,” LaPorte said.

There are no political or administrative barriers preventing MSU veterans from starting a group, said Marc Robinson, a Student Veterans of America representative from Minneapolis.

Lack of information or lack of student initiative sometimes is the problem, he said.

“We don’t want to become the driving force, because the driving force is the student veterans at MSU,” he said. “We want to get the information out because it can be very difficult getting student organizations going. People might give up.”

Patton said a student group for veterans sounds like a good idea, but some veterans would be better served without isolating themselves any further.

“I wouldn’t want to separate myself from the student body so much,” he said. “Getting readjusted would be best accomplished by continuing their lives as normal.”

One benefit a student group could provide, Patton said, would be to direct new student veterans to the campus resources available to them.

Human biology junior Justin McClean, 31, who served 18 months in both Afghanistan and Iraq in the U.S. Army, said he suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, for several years.

Although he had treatment before he enrolled at MSU, he said he never knew his options for counseling as a new student. “I know they have counseling for all students at MSU, but I never tapped into that,” he said. “I don’t know if they’d even be capable of handling a student with PTSD.”

Barbara Walkington, a social therapist for the MSU Counseling Center, said MSU does have a therapist who can treat patients with the disorder.

Walkington also started preliminary research into creating a formal service for veterans that could be the reference point many are seeking.

“We’re hoping to have something not just about counseling, but that meets all of their needs and combines all resources across campus,” she said.

There isn’t a timetable for the services, Walkington said, but it’s something she said returning veterans need.

“Campus is a lot different than being in a war zone,” she said.