Central Washington University student Joel Thurston served in the Marine Corps from 2008 to 2012. He is a first-generation student and one of seven siblings.

“I’m hoping to kind of encourage (my siblings) that ‘Hey, you know you can do this,’” Thurston said.

When military veterans return home to attend college, they find themselves often older and more mature than their peers with a wider array of often serious life experiences.

“That’s one that as a 23-year-old taking algebra, like I was running into a lot of much significantly younger people,” said CWU student and Army National Guard veteran Carson Biermanski. “It is a little bit of a trip.”

Some veterans find it difficult to translate their military skills and experiences — which can be defined by a rigid sense of conformity, aggressiveness and camaraderie — to the open, creative and individualistic environments of university campuses.

“I think there is way more freedom in comparison,” said CWU student and Army National Guard infantryman Dustin Jackson. “You have a time and place you’re supposed to show up to, but you don’t have a team or squad.”

Thurston can recall interactions with his student peers that reflected his age and adjustments from his military experience.

Accustomed to what Marines consider “policing their own,” Thurston would correct his peers for being disruptive in class. On one instance, a professor referred to his correction of a peer as “intimidating.”

“She didn’t say it in a mean way or anything like that, but I was really surprised by her,” Thurston said. “... I just didn’t see myself as being someone that would be giving off an air of intimidation. That wasn’t how I wanted to come across to students.”

Outside of being perceived as rough around the edges, veterans in Ellensburg and throughout the country often face financial hardships when returning from service.

Thurston faced homelessness when he returned.

“I was lucky that I didn’t ever end up on the street,” he said. “I was technically homeless for a period of time. ... I didn’t have an actual residence.”

According to a Nov. 3 news release from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, as of January 2022 there were 33,136 veterans experiencing homelessness.

Thurston found work where he could — fast food restaurants, call centers and shipyards.

“I would say some of the most difficult challenges were transitioning,” he said. “I didn’t feel any sense of pride in the work or anything. I went from what I did in the Marine Corps to this. It just didn’t sit well with me.”

Thurston noted that in his first year out of the service he was unaware of many resources and benefits open to him. During that year, his car was repossessed because he was unaware that new veterans often qualify for payment freezes as they re-establish themselves.

“I got told about that by my bank after they revoked my car,” Thurston said. “I was like, ‘you could have told me that before you (took) it, you know?’”

CWU aims to help its veteran-students find information. Its CWU Veteran Center is a place where veteran-students can be guided toward resources and benefits.

The center helps some find gainful employment and offers a familiar sense of community they once had in service.

“I hung out there at least once a week and talk with people,” Jackson said. “It was a nice place to like have some community.”

The CWU Veterans Center is directed by Ruben Cardenas, who is a veteran himself.

“He is deeply passionate about what he does,” Jackson said. “He cares to support veterans who attend the school.”

As a veteran, Cardenas intimately understands the challenges veterans may face with benefits, finances, homelessness or the adjustment to post-service life.

“I get that interaction on a daily basis with fellow veterans,” Cardenas said. “I’m with my people, so I love what I’m doing. I love serving the students.”

Cardenas has seen a variety of veteran-students pass through the university and understands that not every challenge they face can be applied in a uniform manner or generalized. However, as a veteran himself, Cardenas understands that there are common themes in the post-service adjustment.

“I think a lot of the challenges people struggle with is going from a really structured environment to having a freedom that you’re not necessarily used to,” Cardenas said. “Also, going from a very purposeful position that you might have held in the military to maybe trying to figure out what we call a career.”

Cardenas also recognizes the need to encourage what he calls “help-seeking behavior.” Many veterans struggle with accessing resources due to concerns of being perceived as weak, he said.

“You hear that term, ‘It takes a village,’” said Cardenas. “It really does. You know we can’t go through this life without our support networks, so I really try and normalize that for our students so that they know that it’s OK to ask for help. They’re not going to be seen as weak for doing that.”

To better assist them, Cardenas has to stay in tune with the benefits and programs available to veterans at the local, state and federal levels.

“I am learning something new every day,” he said. “I don’t even convince myself or think that I know everything. There’s always something to learn, even on a federal level there’s legislation that changes things.”

In a statement to the Daily Record, CWU President Jim Wohlpar said: “Central Washington University is a place where veterans are welcomed and respected, and we take pride in supporting them as they pursue their personal and professional goals. That appreciation extends to service members and veterans across Kittitas County and our state because we know they make our communities stronger.”