One of the many benefits of my job here at Sacred Heart University is that I get to interact with and meet students (and prospective students) from all different walks of life.  I have encountered students from all corners of the world and from different age groups.  Some have been to Sacred Heart University in the past and are now looking to complete a degree, while for others it's their very first time on campus.

Of all the students I have encountered along the way, I've been quite fortunate to meet with several veterans and to help get them started on their way to degree completion.  I meet with them in my office and point them in the right direction based on their academic needs.  It's an honor for me to help introduce them to Sacred Heart University and to all that this campus has to offer.

Given the large numbers of men and women who are currently in the service or who have recently left the service, and the hard-earned benefits available to them from the GI Bill and the Yellow Ribbon Program, student/veterans are flocking to college campuses. This is exciting for colleges across the United States. 

I will often hear the phrase "life experience" used when discussing adults who are going to college to pursue a degree, and it goes without saying that veterans possess an incredibly unique and important form of life experience.  They bravely left their families and homes to defend our nation in a time of need.  Many of them have witnessed things first-hand that the rest of us have only read about or seen dramatized in film.

Tomorrow is Veteran's Day, and this morning I was reminded that today marks the 236th Birthday of the United States Navy.  So now is as good a time as any to say "thank you" to our veterans here on campus (and around the world, for that matter) for not just their service to our country, but for that unique life experience they bring to a college campus.