Back From War And Back In School

Charles Parker traded in his Naval tool pouch for a bookbag full of textbooks.

For nearly 15 years, Parker worked as a Bosun Mate petty officer aboard aircraft carriers like the USS John F. Kennedy. Now the 49-year-old is a student of paralegal studies at Miami Dade College’s Wolfson Campus.

“My military duties and trainings keep me focused,” Parker said. “I make sure to have my I’s dotted and my T’s crossed.”

He reenlisted twice in the Navy. After his first reenlistment he was deployed to the Gulf War where he stayed in the “hot zone” close to dangerous battles for six months before heading back to the States.

“It was a change,” Parker said. “People take life and everything for granted. It made me a better person, man and human being.”

Parker is just one of the 3,500 veterans enrolled at the College. The majority study at Kendall Campus. Staff at the College’s Veterans Affairs offices at Wolfson, InterAmerican, Kendall, Medical and North Campuses assist eligible U.S. Veteran students and dependents using their Veterans Administration educational benefits.

On Nov. 10, MDC and the the Student Veterans of America club will honor veterans at Wolfson Campus in Room 6100 at a 9 a.m. and 12 p.m. ceremony. Speakers include Miami Police Chief Manuel Orosa and Retired U.S. Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel Tony Colmenares.

Many veterans like Parker have faced challenges. While on-shore duty two-and-a-half years after the Gulf War, Parker was hospitalized for two weeks and was diagnosed with asthma caused by the war.Shortly after, he was released on an honorable discharge from the Navy as a disabled veteran.

He joined the newly-formed Wolfson Campus chapter of SVA and was named president by advisor William Chapman, an Advisement & Counseling Intervention Specialist. Student Veterans of America is a national organization where student veterans can share common understanding about their experiences while in the service. Chapman said the veterans like to call the organization a “strong brother/sisterhood.” Meetings usually run for an hour-and-a-half with speakers including professors, career advisors and Single Stop employees. About 20 veterans are a part of this recently established chapter.

“We wanted to have a strong club, because they often feel like outsiders among traditional students,” Chapman said.

Parker wants faculty, staff and students at the College to know that veteran students are unique.

“We’re different,” Parker said. “We’re focused.”

They are usually older than other students and goal-oriented, Parker said.

Student Veterans of America Vice President Keisha Santiago, 24, served in the United States Marine Corps in 2008. She was deployed to Okinawa, Japan for two years.

“I would say that it actually helped me, it gave me the maturity and discipline to complete tasks,” said Santiago, who enrolled in MDC in August of 2014 in the Associates in Arts in Criminal Justice program.

After Japan, she did active military duty in Texas at the Corpus Christi Naval Air Station until June of 2012 where she then started as a student at Texas A&M University.

In June 2014 Santiago headed to Miami.

“My family is here, I needed more support because I have [Post Traumatic Stress Disorder],” Santiago said.

For Santiago, SVA is a great way to engage the general public with the veterans and veterans issues.

Like Santiago, Wayne Martindale, 25, was seeking support from SVA. Martindale enlisted into the Army as a 21-year-old in 2010. He believes that civil service is important because it says a lot about one’s character.

“It’s something I always wanted to do,” Martindale said. “It challenges you physically and mentally.”

Martindale came to MDC in July to pursue his Associates in Arts in Administration and Recreation after being based in Washington D.C. at the third U.S. infantry regiment for three years.

“You learn a lot about yourself and capabilities,” said Martindale of his military service. “It gave me a lot of insight.”

This year, there is a new initiative meant to acknowledge and support veterans through the arts. Miami Dade College Live Arts is bringing Basetrack Live to the South Miami-Dade Cultural Arts Center in March 2015. The event is a multidisciplinary show inspired by work of photojournalists embedded in Afghanistan. The work is an ambitious collaboration between the award-winning national touring theatre company En Garde Arts and corpsmen from the 1st Battalion/8th Marines.

“It’s a really great way to expose greater Miami in a conversation about soldiers, veterans and war,” said Jenni Person, MDC Live Arts managing producer.

Person said the show and other literary events throughout the year involving veterans are important because they focus on the effects of war. She hopes to “bring the life of veterans to life.”

Parker wants MDC to be viewed as a veteran-friendly institution.

“We have guys out there putting their lives on the line so you can come to school freely,” Parker said. ”Shake their hands and appreciate their service. Appreciation is worth more to us than money.”