Dear Editor,
My name is Dan Payan and I am a student enrolled in my first semester at JCCC, I am also a Veteran of the United States Marine Corps using the G.I. Bill to fund my education. Before attending college here I was enrolled in classes in Utah at the Salt Lake Community College (SLCC). While attending SLCC I would spend time studying, relaxing, and talking to other Veterans in the Veterans Center (a center for Veterans and their families to use computers, study, relax, and get the information they need to succeed in their education and life) and as I would walk to the Veterans Center and my classes I would pass a memorial acknowledging the service and sacrifice of student Veterans like myself, and nothing made me feel as proud or honored than that memorial. It was a concrete stand with a copper placard thanking student Veterans surrounded by flag poles with each Military branches flag flying high. The problem I have is, now that I attend JCCC I have no place to meet with other Veterans such as myself, I have to ask to speak with an assigned person in order to get military and school related information, I can’t just walk into a room and read a Veterans billboard with Veterans information pamphlets or Veterans friendly resources, and I also have no daily routine of passing a memorial thanking myself and fellow Veteran students for defending America and its Constitution.
I am writing you to ask for your help informing the school, the students, and the community of the things that other schools have applied to help transitioning Veterans and thank them for their selfless sacrifice. I have contacted the Veterans Services Office about this issue and they have informed me that the discussion has come up at the Veterans Club meetings but that is has made no progress. I feel that if this topic has come up amongst the Veterans Club and no resolution has come of it then maybe more people need to be notified of this topic.
By more people I mean students, faculty, and whoever else may read the Campus Ledger, I for one give much credit and interest to the stories I read in it and I’m sure other readers do as well.
JCCC is listed as a military friendly school and I would agree wholeheartedly, but is there any reason it can’t be friendlier. I’m not saying that we need to neglect other students, I am just asking that WE as a school start showing a little more thanks to not only Veterans but Veterans who have fought for freedom and are now fighting alongside civilians for that sacred award know as a “DEGREE.” It’s hard enough to transition from the military to civilian life but to do that and get good grades is an almost impossible task if you don’t have the resources necessary to succeed.
I appreciate your time, and hope that with your help we can inform more people of the selfless dedication that our Veteran students have given to not only better the country but also to better themselves.
Thanks again,
Dan Payan
dpayan@stumail.jccc.edu
P.S. Your article in OP ED section the recent Campus Ledger (Volume 34 Issue 12) “Forgetting to Say Thank You to Those Forsaken By Their Government” was dead on, and has shown me that some people still remember us. Thank you and I look forward to reading more you have to offer.