Senior physical education major Chris Day served in the U.S. Army for four years and spent more than two years serving in Afghanistan.

While many veterans at this university said they are grateful they were afforded the opportunity to attend college, the transition from the stringent routine of military life to the laid-back atmosphere of college can be difficult.

This year’s Veterans Day follows President Barack Obama’s announcement last month that all American troops in Iraq will return home by Jan. 1, and now many more homeward bound veterans will go through this same transition period.

For senior physical education major Chris Day, who served in the U.S. Army for four years and spent more than two years in Afghanistan, one of the biggest challenges of entering the civilian world and diving into collegiate life was learning how to make decisions for himself.

“It’s a process,” he said. “You get out of the military, and everything you could’ve done previously is so structured, and now you’re on campus making those decisions for yourself, and it’s like a blessing and a curse.”

And the age gap between veterans and the average college student can be several years, which Day said sometimes prompted him to feel like an outlier.

“For the students coming in fresh out of high school, they’re right out from under their mom and dad’s arms, and they’re ready to go run wild,” he said.

While the U.S. Army inherently fosters a sense of camaraderie, it’s hard to find that same kinship here at the university, said Brad Antlitz, who served in the Marines for five years and spent six months in Iraq.

“It’s hard to find a group of people to settle and call your friends when you’re at school, and for some reason I’m having difficulty making friends in my classes to study with,” said Antlitz, a sophomore kinesiology major. “When the rest of us are transitioning in from the military, it’s make it or break it, and we have to succeed in school because that’s the next part of our lives, versus an 18- or 19-year-old kid that has time to figure out what they want to do.”

Although many veterans said they’re trying to adapt to a different lifestyle, Stamp Student Union Director Marsha Guenzler-Stevens said it is also important for other students to better understand the veterans’ stories. From ice cream socials to community service projects, the university held a series of events to show its appreciation during Veterans Week, culminating in today’s Veterans Day Celebration Service and Reception at 12:30 p.m. in the Memorial Chapel.

“I think sometimes as we’re walking across campus, we see that everyone has their own story, and some students have this extraordinary service component to their story,” she said. “They have this amazing way of how they’ve contributed their service, so in some ways [Veterans Day] is honoring that story and recognizing that unique piece of our campus population.”

University officials said they have taken tangible steps over the past several years to expand veterans services to help these students transition into college life, including the creation of a lounge for students in Cole Field House to study and mingle and the launch of new classes specifically designed for student veterans.

“Clearly we are a different institution than we were four years ago as we started to think about serving veterans,” said Guenzler-Stevens, who is also the chair of the veterans steering committee. “Each and every year we get better and think of more creative ways to reach out to veterans. … We’re seeing the evolution of lots of new things that will only make this a better place for veteran students both in terms of coming to school here as veterans and making that transition.”

And Joe Ruiz, who spent six years in the Air Force and just finished his tour of duty this summer, said veterans lose their support system once they leave the military.

“The military supports you in so many aspects, so when you leave the military and go into the civilian world, you lose that and you’re on your own,” the freshman letters and science major said.

Antlitz said university initiatives have helped him find a niche of veterans similar to himself.

“It’s easy to feel like you’re kind of by yourself without the camaraderie of the veterans program, so there’s been a huge motivation to go in [the veterans lounge] and shoot the breeze with everyone that’s in there,” he said. “They can understand where you’re coming from.”

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