Veterans and Math

Veterans and Math

by Brie Mills -
Number of replies: 0
My prior experiences with veterans has been a mixed bag, for sure. I've found there are (I'm overgeneralizing here with a purpose) basically two types of veterans that show up.


First, there are those that are outgoing and like to take charge. These a great people to have with those less experienced in life (fresh out of high school) as they provide so much perspective that I'm pretty sure the young people end up learning more about life and study habits than they do math (and they typically end up doing well in the class)! I rarely, if ever, have to be worried about these veterans in my class as they work hard and are quick to ask questions and advocate for themselves in an appropriate way when needed. 


Second, there are those that are very timid/shy and reserved. I frequently do not know these students are veterans until later in the semester. These students fall one of two directions and take careful watch. First, there are the ones that just want to do their work and move on; these tend to do fine in the class (and sometimes I don't learn they are a veteran until the end of the semester or after the semester is over). Second, there are the ones that are struggling emotionally with the transition and skip out on class/assignments or don't have the financial stability for purchasing the textbook right away. 


To help try to identify veterans in my class (without directly asking because frequently they don't like to be singled out), I have some type of survey I give at the beginning of the semester where there is an open ended question at the end asking if there is anything they would like me to know about them, such as being a veteran, if you have a pronoun preference, or something at home in your life that will make school a little extra challenging. (I assure them I will not share the information past myself.) This gives not only veterans a chance to share their history with me, but also allows other students that could have issues a chance to share with me. Veteran's that voluntarily share their information with me I put a little mark next to on my roster so I make sure to keep track of them during the first few weeks and get them extra resources, as needed. 


Having little military experience, personally, I know that I cannot understand the mental portion of their transition and need to bring in extra help. Knowing the resources at NMC and when to send students where is definitely important. Scott Herzberg is a great resource and I'm happy to see many of my veteran students already connected with Scott when I mention the resource to them.