Age -31

Hometown – Big Timber, Montana 

Branch of Service – Navy

University enrolled or attending – The University of Alaska Fairbanks but was initially helped by the VUB team while attending Catholic University of America

Did the VUB program have a positive impact on your academic journey? 

Absolutely, I honestly wouldn’t have made it to where I am if Curtis Addleman and others in the program hadn’t helped me. 

In what other ways was VUB helpful to you? 

The support and assistance with navigating my VR&E benefits, and resources that were provided helped me manage my PTSD and stay on track for completing the semester and working towards finishing my bachelor’s degree in psychology were paramount to my success. When I came into the program I was struggling with my PTSD and afraid of failing one of my classes and on the verge of loosing hope and dropping out of school. Because of the help I received from everyone on the team, I was able to pass all of my classes with an A-B average finishing the semester strong and making the decision to stay in school with high hopes that I will reach my goal of obtaining a bachelor’s degree in psychology.

What would you say to a fellow veteran who is considering going back to or starting school? Would you recommend they work with VUB? If yes, how and why?

I would definitely recommend students work with VUB especially if they struggle with PTSD and deadline/application anxiety. VUB helps connect you with the resources best for your individual needs such as helping you get into counseling, and finding the right applications for getting the VA benefits you need to complete school, and the team helps you through the whole process from filling out forms to reminders of deadlines so that you don’t have to navigate the system by yourself. They also are extremely supportive and encouraging. 

They specifically helped me by connecting me to a counselor for my PTSD, helping me the right forms for applying for a service dog, changing my RE code, offering a financial class, and especially with every step of the VR&E process by being a go-between me and my VR&E counselor and the school, they also sent me links to other VA resources, as well as assisting me in writing a resume and transferring schools. 

You are not alone; VUB has your back.