Veterans achieve success at FIU

By Susan Feinberg

It wasn’t easy for Corey Robinson to make the transition from combat to the classroom. The 25-year-old senior served in Iraq and Afghanistan and completed his service in the Army in 2006. When he returned to school at FIU, the challenges he faced were daunting.

Corey Robinson while serving in Afghanistan

“You have to reprogram yourself completely when you become a student,” he explained. “You’re surrounded by your peers who have no idea where you’re coming from. You’re not only not on the same page as everyone else, you’re in a different library.

“One minute, your concern is to stay alive, and the next minute, you have to downshift into the political philosophy of Edmund Burke,” he added.

Robinson turned to the FIU Office of Veterans Assistance for help. The staff assisted him with getting his benefits under the GI Bill of Rights and paired him with a student in the veteran peer mentor program who showed him around campus and told him what to expect.

Robinson is now getting ready to graduate, and credits the Office of Veterans Assistance with helping him to achieve success. As a work study student in the Office, he works with other veterans, showing them the ropes. “It’s great doing that, because I know how they feel when they come in,” he said.

FIU’s Office of Veterans Assistance is dedicated to helping military veterans make a successful transition into the FIU community. The Office partners with a host of university-wide departments – Admissions, Orientation, Transfer Services, Career Services, the Disability Resource Center, and Psychological Services – to help veterans adapt to student life.  Staffed by student veterans, the Office has also forged partnerships with local agencies such as the Miami Vet Center and Operation Veterans Link Up.

Veterans can take advantage of a variety of services and resources, including a peer mentor program, targeted career services, and ongoing workshops about veterans benefit services.  One of the Office’s main goals is to certify veterans’ enrollment at the university to the U.S. Department of Veterans affairs to ensure they receive their educational funds. The Office also serves veterans’ spouses and dependents who may be eligible for educational benefits.

“These veterans are heroes who put their academic careers on hold to serve this nation. Now it’s time for us to let them be students,” said Michael Pischner, assistant registrar, veteran certifying officer and a U.S. Army veteran. “FIU is well positioned to make sure that happens.”

Currently, more than 850 veterans are FIU students. In fall 2009, FIU enrolled the third largest veteran population in the state university system in Florida. The university offers tuition at the in-state rate to all veterans and made the GI Jobs magazine list of military friendly schools. The list honors the top 15 percent of colleges, universities and trade schools that are doing the most to embrace America’s veterans as students.

When Darienzo Pena, a 26-year-old junior who served in the Marine Corps, transferred to FIU, he felt a little lost. “In the military, I could get answers to everything from one person,” he said. “But FIU is huge, and I didn’t know where to go to get the information I needed.”

“The guys at the Office of Veterans Assistance told me exactly what to do and who to speak with, and helped me to get my benefits under the GI Bill,” Pena said. “They gave me a great introduction to FIU and definitely pointed me in the right direction.”

Pena’s fiancé, Carolina Ventura, an FIU senior who served in the Air Force, urges veterans to study at FIU. “There are tons of veterans here and plenty of support for them at the university,” she said.