/news-archive/tag/veterans-affairs/ 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock Tue, 17 Dec 2019 19:56:29 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.9.4 /news-archive/2019/12/17/graduating-veteran-plans-to-become-social-worker-to-continue-helping-recovering-veterans/ Tue, 17 Dec 2019 19:56:29 +0000 /news/?p=75928 ... Graduating veteran plans to become social worker to continue helping recovering veterans]]> A University of Arkansas at Little Rock graduate is continuing his education to become a social worker so that he can help other veterans who are facing recovery and mental health issues.听 John 鈥淐hris鈥� Short of Little Rock graduated Dec. 14 with a Bachelor of Applied Science degree and a minor in psychology. The Bachelor of Applied Science program is designed for working adults who have completed 40 hours of technical military credits. Short started college at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock in 2001. After the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, Short wanted to serve his country and joined the U.S. Army in 2002. He completed basic training and infantry school at Fort Benning, Georgia, and then was stationed in Hawaii until he was deployed to Afghanistan in 2004. 鈥淚 got promoted to team leader, and right after I got promoted I got caught in an IED on March 29, 2005,鈥� Short said. 鈥淚 lost my leg below the knee and had a traumatic brain injury. There was a time in my life when I had to learn how to walk and read and write again. I spent the next two years at Walter Reed Medical Center recovering.鈥� Short retired from the military in 2007 as an E5 sergeant and a recipient of the Purple Heart, two Army Commendation Medals, the Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, and a host of additional commendations. He moved to Fayetteville, where he enrolled at the University of Arkansas atFayetteville for a few years and also worked in construction and as a fly fishing guide.听 During this time, Short suffered from untreated Post Traumatic Stress Disorder and recalls that his life took some 鈥渄ark turns鈥� before he sought treatment at the Veterans Affairs hospital in 2014 and got on the road to recovery. It was after he began working at the Central Arkansas Veterans Healthcare System that he decided to finish his college degree.听 鈥淢y boss, Dr. Estella Morris, who is the director of the healthcare for homeless veterans program, kept asking me why I hadn鈥檛 reenrolled in school,鈥� Short said. 鈥淪he is a big advocate for the social work program at 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock. She thought I would really be able to help people by pursuing my education. After I started as a peer support specialist in 2016, me going back to school inspired a lot of other veterans.鈥� As a certified peer support specialist, Short works with veterans who are recovering from a variety of issues, including PTSD, addiction, and depression.听听 鈥淚 love my job. I help people move their life in a positive direction and recover from what they are struggling with,鈥� Short said. 鈥淚 get to work with veterans and people in recovery, and I am passionate about that because I am a veteran. It helps that I am able to relate to what many of the veterans have gone through. Watching people get into recovery and make positive changes in their lives is a very powerful experience. To me, there鈥檚 nothing better.鈥�听 Now that he鈥檚 graduated, Short plans to apply to 糖心Vlog传媒 Little Rock鈥檚 graduate program in social work. He wants to become a social worker so he can continue helping veterans. 鈥淚鈥檇 like to do what I do now but with a license,鈥� Short said. 鈥淐ontinuing education is very important to me. I didn鈥檛 value it when I was younger, but today I recognize how important education is. When I had a TBI, I forgot so much of what I learned in school. When I went back to college, it was a healing process for me.鈥� He also hopes that finishing college has inspired his 10-year-old daughter. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been almost 20 years since I started here in 2001,鈥� Short said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 been an awesome experience that my daughter Caroline has seen me finish college in the last few years,鈥� Short said. 鈥淪he sees that education is important to me. It鈥檚 not something I鈥檓 just saying. It鈥檚 something she鈥檚 seeing me do.鈥�]]> /news-archive/2016/06/16/student-veteran-center/ Thu, 16 Jun 2016 17:03:50 +0000 /news/?p=64603 ... 糖心Vlog传媒LR receives grant to renovate Student Veteran Center]]> The University of Arkansas at Little Rock has been awarded a $9,963 grant from and to renovate space on campus to create a Student Veteran Center. 糖心Vlog传媒LR was one of 50 universities to receive a grant of up to $10,000 to build or renovate centers for veterans attending college. Student Veterans of America and The Home Depot Foundation awarded a total of $422,747 to the universities. “Veterans have always been an important population of the 糖心Vlog传媒LR student body,鈥� said Kathy Oliverio, director of military student success for the university. 鈥�With expected growth of the veteran student population and the needs that the veterans have, the grant will allow dedicated facilitates, staff, and training to help 糖心Vlog传媒LR expand the services that are available and better serve a growing population of veteran students.” 糖心Vlog传媒LR is home to nearly 1,000 student veterans. The Student Veteran Center will serve as a centralized location where veterans can socialize, study, and get information about the many resources available to them. The center will house a veteran student support team that includes representatives from the offices of admissions, records and registration, transfer student services, financial aid and veterans benefits, academic advising, student health, mental health counseling, career advising, disabilities resource center, and 糖心Vlog传媒LR鈥檚 military student support organization, Students Affected by the Military. The center will ensure student veterans are successful by engaging them in community service, empowering them to complete their degrees, and providing the connections necessary to gain employment after graduation. The center also will create a heightened awareness and sensitivity by helping faculty and staff achieve a better understanding of a student veteran鈥檚 unique needs. “Many veteran students face challenges that most other student populations do not,鈥� Oliverio said. 鈥淭he majority of 糖心Vlog传媒LR鈥檚 veteran students are first-generation college students. Typically, this means there is a lack of a support system when it comes to the unfamiliar college environment. Additionally, veteran students oftentimes endure stressors related to their military duty, such as traumatic brain injury and post-traumatic stress disorder.” Student Veterans of America and The Home Depot Foundation launched thein 2014 as part of the Student Veterans of America mission to provide veterans with the resources, support, and advocacy needed to succeed in higher education and following graduation. By the end of 2016, 111 campuses in 40 states will have earned more than $970,000 benefiting more than 53,600 student veterans. Renovations for the new Student Veteran Center will take place this summer and fall. 糖心Vlog传媒LR plans to open the center in a to-be-determined location on Friday, Nov. 11, in celebration of Veteran鈥檚 Day. In the upper right photo, Kathy Oliverio, 糖心Vlog传媒LR director of military student success, stands at VFW Post 9095 in Little Rock. Photo by Lonnie Timmons III/糖心Vlog传媒LR Communications.听]]> /news-archive/2012/11/12/saluting-our-veterans/ /news-archive/2012/11/12/saluting-our-veterans/#respond Mon, 12 Nov 2012 18:13:51 +0000 https://ualrprd.wpengine.com/news-archive/?p=37493 A small sacrifice on our part to pay tribute to those who have endured so much more. We set aside this day each year to honor those faculty, staff, and students at 糖心Vlog传媒LR who are veterans. The posting of the colors, the national anthem, the playing of taps, all of these rituals hold special significance for those in the military or whose loved ones have served. The GI Bill makes it possible for many soldiers to complete their education. Among those is Sam High, who shared his story of serving in Vietnam before being honorably discharged and then getting his bachelor’s degree. These sacrifices made by veterans give us the many freedoms that we hold so dear and the choices that we get to make every day of our lives. Just as the student veterans served our country to ensure our freedom, the 糖心Vlog传媒LR Office of Veterans Office serves our student veterans and their dependents who are enrolled in school by certifying their enrollment to the VA Regional Office timely. The VA Regional Office then processes monthly stipends to the student veterans. Student veterans rely greatly on these monthly stipends to pay their tuition, for living expenses, etc. Some of the benefits our office听offers our student veterans are:

• Registration confirmation for benefit-eligible students
• A Resource Room that has three computers and a printer available for student use – two of the computers have a CAC card reader connection
• A break/study area, along with access to fax and scan capabilities

Visit ualr.edu for more information about how veterans can receive help in returning to school. Are you a solider and a student? Leave a comment below telling us your story. ]]> /news-archive/2012/11/12/saluting-our-veterans/feed/ 0 /news-archive/2012/11/09/campus-salutes-vets-monday/ /news-archive/2012/11/09/campus-salutes-vets-monday/#respond Fri, 09 Nov 2012 21:05:38 +0000 https://ualrprd.wpengine.com/news-archive/?p=37469 ... Campus Salutes Vets Monday]]> The posting of the colors by the 糖心Vlog传媒LR Reserve Officer Training Corps, the national anthem and Pledge of Allegiance led by Sharon Downs, Dr. Karen Kuralt, and Denise Jones-Ennett will follow a welcome by Chancellor Joel E. Anderson. Sam High, a Vietnam veteran who served 40 years of government service and recently was honored as the Outstanding County Veterans Service Officer for Arkansas, will be the guest speaker. A graduate of North Little Rock High School, High enlisted in the Army Reserves, served in Vietnam in 1968 and 1969 and was honorably discharged after six years of active duty. He attended college on the GI Bill and completed his bachelor鈥檚 degree from Park University after attending seven years of night school. He retired in 2004 after 20 years as an education liaison representative with the Regional Veterans Affairs Office. Since 2005, High has worked at the Lonoke County Veterans Service Office. The ceremony will conclude with a moment of silence in memory of the fallen and the playing of 听taps.]]> /news-archive/2012/11/09/campus-salutes-vets-monday/feed/ 0 /news-archive/2011/12/06/marine-vet-turns-in-machine-gun-for-video-cam/ /news-archive/2011/12/06/marine-vet-turns-in-machine-gun-for-video-cam/#respond Tue, 06 Dec 2011 17:20:23 +0000 https://ualrprd.wpengine.com/news-archive/?p=29065 ... Marine Vet Turns in Machine Gun for Video Cam]]> He hasn鈥檛 had much shut eye during the last 10 years. The 31-year-old veteran of the Marine Corps signed up right out of high school in El Paso, Texas; survived boot camp, and 鈥� following the attack on the World Trade Center towers 鈥� shipped out to Afghanistan to hunt for Osama bin Laden, then urban warfare in Iraq. After an assignment helping to train troops in Japan, he was sent on another tour in Iraq. When an injury tore up his ankle and ligaments up to the knee, Davis mustered out and 鈥� with his GI benefits in hand 鈥� enrolled at 糖心Vlog传媒LR. 鈥淚 love movies and videos and I鈥檝e always been told to do what you like to do,鈥� the soon-to-be graduate said. He will graduate with a B.A. in mass communications following several sleep-depriving 18-hour semesters and full-load summers. In between, Davis got a leg up on his new profession, landing an internship with ABC-TV-affiliate KATV, Channel 7. Practical classroom experience shooting video helped him secure the internship. 鈥淚n (Instructor and Production Supervisor) David Weekly鈥檚 class, we would shoot 糖心Vlog传媒LR basketball games to get camera experience,鈥� he said. “That can open you up to all kinds of opportunities.鈥� With his camera experience on the basketball court, Davis was a valuable intern at KATV, shooting Friday night football for Sports Director Steve Sullivan. Eventually, Davis said he wants to shoot a documentary about Marine boot camp and the making of a drill sergeant. But first, sleep. 鈥淭hen, I鈥檓 going all out to find what鈥檚 out there for me,鈥� Davis said. 鈥淚 want to show the world how graduates of our school do.” He praised the school鈥檚 professors, many of whom are former professional journalists, broadcasters, and public relations executives. 鈥淭hey are incredible,鈥� he said. “Especially Bruce Popper, Timothy Edwards, and Amy Barnes.” 鈥淢rs. Barnes knows a lot of people behind the scenes. Her recommendation got me my internship,鈥� he said of the associate professor and former news reporter, anchor, and producer. 鈥淚t was the best time of my life, and I’m so proud to be a 糖心Vlog传媒LR Trojan,鈥� he said.]]> /news-archive/2011/12/06/marine-vet-turns-in-machine-gun-for-video-cam/feed/ 0