After his tour of duty, college gave him a path. Now this vet is helping others go to college in Bucks County

Returning home from military service can be a challenge.

Now, with the help of one of their own, veterans in Bucks County can ease the obstacles they face in getting a college education.

A new program at Bucks County Community College is helping transition veterans into the school while also addressing their specific needs to be successful after their time serving the country is over.

County and college officials built the program after being approached by a Marine veteran and BCCC graduate who recently interned at the college while pursuing a doctoral degree in educational leadership at Delaware Valley University.

The veteran, who asked not to be identified by name, has been a success story of post-service life, but he knows the struggle for him and those like him is real.

"My first transition was very hard," he said. "My life briefly after the Marine Corps went off track."

Last month, the Bucks County commissioners approved $200,000 of federal American Rescue Plan Act funds the county received to start a new office at the college to help veterans and "returning citizens," including those who may have been formerly incarcerated.

"It was a great opportunity for us to capitalize, $200,000 to use over two years, and the plan is to hire a veterans and returning citizens coordinator," said Dekia Smith, BCCC's dean of students. She said the plan is for the college to post the position as open within the next week or two and then recruit the coordinator.

In the first year, with the help of Timothy Wynn, the new Bucks County director of Veterans Affairs, the office will focus on the 125 veterans now attending the college, and then expand to offer services for those formerly incarcerated.

While their backgrounds are so different, both groups need support, Smith said. Participants also will have access to all other services on the college's three campuses in Bristol and Newtown townships and Perkasie.

Case study: Veterans can be successful students

The young man who put the project in motion said he hadn't been a studious child. When he graduated from high school in the Council Rock district, he decided to enlist in the Marines rather than go to college. Following service in Afghanistan, returning to the United States and reacclimating himself to being a civilian wasn't easy.

He realized he didn't want to go down a wrong path and wanted to help others, so he enrolled at Bucks County Community College, thinking of a career in social work. And he turned to Islam, which helped him.

He finished his bachelor's degree at Temple University, took extra courses at Rutgers University and then enrolled in a master's program at the University of Pennsylvania.

Having his veteran's educational benefits helped him pay the tuition. In the meantime, he took a job helping those coming out of prison.

He noticed that some of those who had been incarcerated, like those leaving the military, had a hard time adjusting to their new normal. Many, like some vets, suffered post-traumatic stress disorder. Though they might want to attend college, it wasn't an easy go.

"That transition piece, coming back to civilian life, is extremely hard. It's hard for people coming out of jail to re-enter society ... People who return to classes, that feeling doesn't go away. It's very hard to get through this," he said.

Along his educational route, he noticed that the universities had established programs to support veterans.

He decided to pursue a doctorate in educational leadership at Delaware Valley University and served an internship at his alma mater, Bucks County Community College. That's when he decided to ask if BCCC could offer the same type of service.

A '360 degree approach to helping veterans'

The Marine veteran did so at the same time that Felicia Ganther became BCCC president and Wynn, another Marine vet with a background in helping incarcerated veterans in Philadelphia, was appointed director of the Bucks County Department of Veteran Affairs.

More:Bucks County Community College names Felicia Ganther as next president

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Ganther said she wanted to take a "360 degrees approach to helping veterans ... I want them to feel welcomed."

The college president said she would like BCCC to have special services and mechanisms in place to help veterans take the technical or other skills they learned in the military and be able to turn that knowledge into academic credit, as well as to offer counseling and other services veterans may need.

Members of the BCCC team also will include Matt Cipriano, director of student life and athletic programs; Lizanne Watts, Veterans Administration school certification officer; and Kelly Kelleway, interim provost, who serves as vice president of academic affairs.

Watts said her job is to show the veterans what educational and other benefits they are entitled to from the VA and help them apply them at the community college.

Cipriano said his job will be to help the vets and returning citizens feel they belong on campus, by informing them about organizations they may want to join that are geared to the military or older students.

Smith pointed out that the new Centers for Advanced Technologies opening at the college's Bristol campus will offer robotics, cyber security and other highly technical classes as well as certificate training for those who want to enter or re-enter the workforce.

And BCCC offers two resources ― the Bucks County Opportunity Council Coaches on Campus program and the college's Basic Needs program ― to help students facing financial difficulties with transportation, rental assistance, child care, electronic equipment and other necessities. There's even a Bucks Market food pantry on campus.

Wynn said his office frequently works with other agencies, such as the Bucks County Opportunity Council, to help veterans with underlying issues, depending on whether they are single, married or have children, and whether they are disabled.

"Housing is a big issue for veterans," he said.

The young man pursuing a doctoral degree said he saw how the other educational institutions have helped veterans and is now glad that BCCC will be doing the same for them, and for those re-entering society after incarceration. He doesn't want to take credit for his idea but will be glad if others can attain their educational goals through the new veterans office on campus. "I just made the recommendation," he said.

Though Smith, the BCCC dean, called the right people to get the program started, "there are so many people really involved," she said.

This article originally appeared on Bucks County Courier Times: Bucks County Community College welcomes US veterans with new outreach