Centralight

Jeremy Simerson was deployed to Iraq nearly five years ago. Recently retired from the United States Marine Corps, he is pursuing his graduate degree in administration at CMU. program, often has similar questions himself. He is a veteran of the war in Iraq, serving there in 2006 to 2007 with the United States Marine Corps Reserves. "I had the full intention to go to school," says Simerson, a native of St. Charles, Mich. "Working here I actually learned a lot about the benefits of the GI Bill." Rellinger says the center, which is coordinated through CMU Off-Campus Programs, serves 227 veterans on campus and the number more than doubles when counting veterans enrolled in classes at the 50 off-campus centers nationwide. He says adjusting to taking classes usually isn't the major concern for many veterans. "The biggest challenge for veterans hasn't been making the transition to scholarly endeavors, it's been managing the VA process," he says. "It takes a lot to get through that process, and we advocate for the veterans and help in working with the VA so they receive all their benefits." One Marine's story Marq Hicks is one student who has tapped into the Veterans' Resource Center and has stepped up to advance its mission through the Student Veterans of America, a related on- campus registered student organization. The CMU chapter of this national student organization focuses on addressing the needs and concerns of veterans in higher education. Growing up in Flint, Mich., and graduating from Carman-Ainsworth High School in 2001, Hicks was studying at Lansing Community College and working part time when he felt called to enlist in the military. Specifically, he wanted to become a Marine. "I saw a Marine Corps commercial and I thought, 'I can do that,'" Hicks says. "My dad, Ersell, and several of my uncles all had served in the Army. I needed to be different, and I had nothing to lose." But the Marine recruiters quickly told Hicks he actually did have something to lose: at least 30 pounds before they even would consider enlisting him. He willingly accepted the challenge and through intense training and dieting, Hicks dropped more than 50 pounds and in June 2006 enlisted as a training camp recruit in San Diego. Three months later he graduated as a full Marine. "Going into training camp, I didn't want to disappoint my family," he says. "I graduated with a 97 percent – the class high score – and I had been meritoriously promoted to the rank of lance corporal." In the months following his graduation, Hicks spent time at military bases in North Carolina training as a helicopter mechanic. But a training-related leg injury followed by a freak bacterial infection in his dominant hand that required centralight spring '12 21

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