Veterans and active service members go to PNW Veterans Services for the plans and benefits, and stay for the community it offers.
PNW Veteran Services is the place to go if you’re an active-duty service member, veteran or veteran-dependent student. It offers benefits such as free tutoring, disability and health care counseling, veteran peer support and transition assistance, scholarships, FAFSA and ScholarTrack navigation assistance, priority registration and even veteran lounges at both campuses where veterans can break bread and get to know one another.
Veteran Service coordinator Anthony Pilota, who served in the Marines from 2010 to 2014, said building a sense of community may be the group’s most important mission.
“When you’re on active duty, you’re surrounded by your best friends,” said Pilota. “When you get out, it’s … an adjustment because it’s been four years since you’ve hung out with your friends back home.
“They don’t really know what you went through and you’re kind of distant from them,” he said. “The only people that really know what you’re going through are other veterans. That’s why I push so hard for peer support.
“If you ever come to the Vets lounge during the day, they’re having a good time there,” said Pilota. “It’s a place where veterans can go and feel comfortable about being themselves.”
While Pilota wears a lot of hats, an important part of his job is to help veterans adjust to the pace of college.
“One of the hardest parts about coming from active duty to college is dealing with the adjustment,” said Pilota. “When you’re in the military, everything you’re doing is set in stone. You’re waking up at 5 a.m. At 7 a.m. you’re at work. At work you’re doing whatever is set in stone for you to do that day and you’re almost always getting off at 4 p.m.
“When they get back out and get that freedom, it can be hard for [veterans] to get a schedule in place,” he said.
Sophomore Biology student Becky Wein, who is also an active National Guardsman, relies on Veteran Services for help.
“I get great information on services that apply to me like G.I. bills and federal tuition assistance,” she said. “It’s a nice community here, too. So on top of getting information about some funding that applies to me I’m able to be swarmed with a community that relates to me.
“For veterans coming from active duty and going into the civilian world, this program is a great opportunity for them to feel more comfortable and to be surrounded by individuals who can relate to the trials and tribulations they’ve gone through,” Wein said. “We’re all veterans so we just understand each other’s struggles.”