NEWS

Campus event honors student veterans

Jessica Ponce-Torres, technical assistant for Student Development, sets up flags outside of the Student Center in honor of Veterans Day. Lilly Kujawski | Washtenaw Community College

By Aidan Ross
Contributor

Washtenaw Community College recognized its student veterans with a series of events on Veterans Day last week.

A Veterans Day ceremony, held on the second floor of the Student Center, included remarks from two student veterans and several administrators.

Jessica Medina, a Marine Corps veteran, said she joined the service to pay for college. She came to WCC to start her degree, and later plans to transfer to the University of Michigan.

Medina is preparing to pursue a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering.

In her remarks, she said that the military is like a second family.

“It’s incredibly lonely, transitioning out of the military,” she said. Medina thanked the WCC Veterans Center, and the people who work there, for their help in providing a place for veterans to feel secure and be able to talk openly about their experiences.

The Wadhams Veterans Center is located on the second floor of the Student Center. More than 600 WCC students are veterans.

Medina told the audience the military taught her a skilled trade and leadership skills.

Alex Arboleda, another student veteran, said he learned a foreign language in the Air Force. He is now a WCC student, preparing to pursue a bachelor’s degree in chemical engineering.

Arboleda said the military was his path to higher education after he failed to secure a scholarship. He said the military gave him the opportunity to travel, sending him to Korea and Italy during his tenure.

In addition to student veterans, the ceremony included remarks from administrators, including Brandon Tucker, assistant vice president of workforce and community development.

Tucker told a story from his time in the Air Force. He said when he left boot camp, he was given a bag known as a “ready-to-go” bag for deployments. At any time, he could be deployed on only 48 hours’ notice.

“If you see one of our veterans, stop and ask how their day is going,” Tucker said. “Because at the end of the day, they had a ready-to-go bag.”