Veterans’ Sanctuary offers helping hand
An easily recognizable figure on campus is Kale Bergeson and his orange and black mohawk. What many may not know is that Bergeson is a former Marine.
Now a junior at Idaho State University majoring in Human Resource Training and Development, Bergeson is the Career Closet coordinator for the Veterans’ Sanctuary, a mentor for Bannock County’s Veterans Court and ASISU senator for the College of Technology.
“The guy will go do service projects at noon, on weekends and at night,” said Casey Santee, manager of the Veterans’ Sanctuary. The Sanctuary is located on the third floor of the Pond Student Union Building and its resources are available for all student veterans.
“I can’t express in words how much I owe this place,” said Bergeson.
Asked why he spends much of his time helping others, Bergeson, 44, said, “To give back to veterans, to my community, to my university. I like helping people.”
That selfless attitude is visible in many student veterans. Lauren Shepard, who spent four years in the Navy, is now the president of the Veterans Club.
“My first year here, when I was lost and I was struggling and my marriage was falling apart and I didn’t have any family here, these were the only people I knew,” said Shepard. “The club came together and they helped me out. They supported me and so now it just makes sense for me to turn around and get back involved.”
According to Bergeson, students do not have to be veterans to be a member of the Veterans Club. Anyone who wants to support ISU’s veterans can join.
Shepard, 29, is a general studies major. She said her experience as a woman in the Navy was different than a typical man’s experience.
“I sat behind a desk a lot,” she said.
Shepard, who now has a three-year-old daughter, said she had to work harder than most men to be respected in the military.
“But once you do earn it,” Shepard added, “you get more of it than the average guy.”
Bergeson served as a Marine in the Gulf War in the early 1990s. He said he chose to enlist as a Marine because of something a recruiter said to him.
“The recruiter told me that you have to earn the title of United States Marine. It’s not given to everyone and not everyone makes it. I looked at it as a challenge and a way to serve my country,” said Bergeson.
Bergeson said his time at the university has been different than that of a traditional student because of his life experiences.
Kevin Fernandez, who has been a member of the Army National Guard for six years, said he feels the same.
“It’s more worldly experience. Some people get it through trials, some people get it from being forced to be exposed to things,” he said.
Fernandez, 29, said his experience came from forced exposure, specifically from his one-year tour of duty in Iraq during Operation Enduring Freedom.
“I’m more driven to get stuff done than it seems like a lot of others are,” Fernandez said, citing his experience. “It’s pretty much ‘be quiet and pay attention’ [in the military].”
Santee said Bergeson, who initially struggled when he began college, is one of the Veterans’ Sanctuary’s greatest successes.
“He made the biggest academic and personal turnaround I’ve ever seen,” said Santee.
Bergeson is now a Sergeant at Arms with the Marine Corps League, a veterans’ service organization.
“We help other Marines within the community,” said Bergeson.
When a young Marine from Fort Hall lost his legs to an improvised explosive device, or IED, the Marine Corps League remodeled the Marine’s parents’ home to make it handicap accessible.
“I was out there for seven of the eight weeks with the Marine Corps League, volunteers and Home Depot volunteers and some construction volunteers from Fort Hall,” Bergeson said.
Bergeson is open about his life as a recovering alcoholic. His experiences as a veteran who struggled with substance abuse led him to be a founding mentor of the Bannock County Veterans’ Court program.
“A lot of these young men have the same type of problem that I did,” said Bergeson. “I’m mentoring three young Marines right now, so it’s very gratifying.”
He said before the program was started in recent years, the local court system was unprepared to deal with veterans and the issues they face, including post traumatic stress disorder.
“[The program] seems to be very successful so far,” according to Bergeson.
Santee agreed, saying roughly half the people who entered Veterans Court are now ISU students.
Bergeson’s work at the Veterans’ Sanctuary led him to his current title as Career Closet coordinator. The Career Closet provides veterans with resume help, mock interviews and professional clothing.
“A lot of these young men and women only have their military uniforms and their street clothes. They’ve come right out of the military and don’t have any professional clothing,” he said.
Bergeson said community members and the United Way have donated new and gently used professional clothing.
Although ISU has many resources for veterans, Bergeson said many veterans do not take advantage of the aid simply because they don’t identify themselves as veterans.
“If you’ve done 31 days of active-duty military service, you are considered a veteran,” said Bergeson.
Student veterans and those currently in the military can learn more about the Veterans’ Sanctuary by visiting http://www.isu.edu/veterans/ or visiting the Sanctuary on the third floor of the PSUB.
“I owe pretty much my whole college career to the Veterans’ Sanctuary and the club because if it were not for them, I would not be here: two semesters from graduation,” said Bergeson.
