Vets go from combat to campus

By Jim Stem for USA TODAY

Larry Braue, director of veteran services at the University of South Florida, teaches a class on March 29.

EnlargeCloseBy Jim Stem for USA TODAY

Larry Braue, director of veteran services at the University of South Florida, teaches a class on March 29.

It wasn't that Dakduk, now 25, lacked the discipline or drive to succeed in school. The former sergeant says he found it hard to study calculus or write English papers — and listen to fellow students complain about the workload — when his mind was still replaying what he had seen and been through.

"I'd revert back to thinking about guys getting blown up, getting shot at," he says, instead of focusing on what he called his "mundane and menial" schoolwork.

AIR FORCE VETERAN: Rising star in college basketballNORTHERN ILLINOIS: Iraq veteran brings unique experienceAs returning veterans struggle to make the transition from military to civilian life on campuses with younger students without their kind of life experience, colleges and universities are increasingly developing programs to address their needs.

"I paid a steep price to have my butt in that seat," says Matt Randle, 30, a former Army combat medic who is now a senior at the University of Arizona in Tucson. "I had a keen sense of not fitting in."

Dakduk graduated in December and now helps other returning veterans as executive director of the Student Veterans of America in Washington. Randle founded and is student-director of the Arizona campus' Veterans Education and Transition Services office.

Dakduk and Randle say making connections with fellow veterans helped them get the support and encouragement they needed.

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