MDC Opens New Veterans & Military Services Center At Wolfson Campus
The Office of Veterans & Military Services at Miami Dade College inaugurated a new center at Wolfson Campus on Nov. 8.
It will serve as a one-stop shop for financial aid, admissions, advisement, peer mentorship and career coaching. Wolfson Campus is home to 90 veterans and military personnel.
In addition to the new Wolfson branch, the program has centers at the West and Kendall campuses.
“It gives them a safe haven for them to come and meet other veterans,” said Chastain “Andrea” Smith, a student success coach and advisor for the program. “A place where they can take a breather and voice certain things without being hurt because there’s privacy.”
The center at Wolfson Campus consists of three rooms. Two serve as hang out and relaxation areas and the third is a study space where workshops will be hosted.
Some of the workshops that are planned include resume building for veterans and post-traumatic stress disorder training for staff and faculty so they can better assist students who have served.
One of the building blocks of the center is the peer mentorship program. It assigns each freshman a sophomore mentor to help guide them through their academic and personal pathway.
As someone diagnosed with PTSD, anxiety and depression, Anthony Strachan, who served in the Marines for four years, longs to get to know veterans with similar experiences.
“It’s important for people to have a place where you can always see people that are a little more like you and even therapeutic because you can open up a little bit more because I can’t have the same kinds of conversations with a regular person,” said Strachan, who is working toward his bachelor’s degree in film, television and digital production at Wolfson Campus.
The center will also work with organizations like United Way Mission United—an organization that focuses on helping veterans acclimate back to civilian life.
“[This] whole thing is just to give back to those who have served, as myself, and for those who need help with transitioning from military back to civilian life, especially those who haven’t been in school for many years,” said Smith, who served in the Navy from 2005 to 2009.
The Veterans & Military Services Center at Wolfson Campus is located at 300 N.E. Second Ave. in Room 1263. It’s open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
