Edna Grant
Staff Writer
The Veteran Student Services Center at Idaho State University houses a large and brightly-colored study lounge. The room is a sanctuary.
Veterans, or other military-associated students, often come up to the room to utilize the quiet atmosphere and study or seek help from TRiO Veterans Program tutors. Others come to use the soft gray couches for a nap.
It was in this room that Gregory Brower was approached by a longtime friend, Melissa Hartman, last year. He was studying when Hartman walked up and put an application on the table before him.
“I want you to work with me,” she said.
Brower was at a loss for words. “Oh, okay,” he responded.
Brower, 49, began his journey into the Armed Forces right out of high school.
“High school was kind of boring,” he said. “I wanted to do something, I wanted to get out, and that seemed like just the thing to do.”
If leaving Idaho was the goal, the goal was achieved. During his four-year service with the Marines, Brower was stationed in Alaska and California and was deployed to Kuwait for nine months. He followed his adventures with 16 years of service with the Idaho National Guard as a cook.
After 20 years of service, he acknowledged the time had come for some change. That change was not a small one.
Brower began pursuing higher education in the fall of 2018. He bought a sturdy black backpack and registered for that fall semester. Hartman’s approach then got him involved with Todd Johnson and the Bannock County Veterans Services.
Todd Johnson is the man in charge at the Veteran Student Services Center. For the last six years, he’s added programs and resources for student veterans, but his involvement with them began long before that.
Johnson began as an academic advisor for ISU’s University Place campus in Idaho Falls sixteen years ago. His work and connections on that campus helped him start the Armed Forces Veterans Club, which then became the Armed Forces Club in Pocatello.
He then left ISU for a short period of time but returned to find Scott Turner had created a small office in Rendezvous dedicated to helping veterans. Both men had a grander vision for the program.
With the help of Amy Christensen, they brought in the TRiO Veterans Program, which is a grant from the Department of Education. This program provides tutors and resources for any academic needs that veterans have. Along with TRiO, the department teamed up with Bannock County Veterans Services to have on-sight resources available, such as Hero — the department’s emotional support dog — and the Career Closet. The Career Closet works in conjunction with the Career Center as a resource to all students in need of professional attire for job interviews.
He was also able to bring in the VA Vital Program, a peer mentoring program connected to the Veterans Association. The program creates a bridge between student veterans and the VA for whatever medical or mental health services they require.
“We all speak the same language,” Johnson said. “It doesn’t matter if you’re Air Force, Army, Marine Corps, whatever … a lot of times they feel more comfortable disclosing to fellow veterans.”
Going to college after serving in the military creates new kinds of obstacles. Between feeling out of place in classes full of younger students, and trying to acclimate to a different structure of learning, veterans at ISU have learned to make the best of it.
Shawn Lewis, a first-year business student and veteran, is president of ISU’s Armed Forces Club. The club, which is soon becoming an official chapter of Student Veterans of America, has provided a sense of family for Lewis.
“This campus is veteran-oriented in a way that we can all come here and get along,” he said.
He believes in the dedication shown by the department to help student veterans with all of their needs. “They get things done.”
