最初发表于 卡罗尔的资本, the print publication of the 卡罗尔管理学院 at 太阳城网赌平台. 点击这里阅读全文.
在十一月中旬的一个星期六, 太阳城网赌平台 football fans were getting into the pre-game spirit around campus. 他们一边扔足球，一边从烤架上抓起热狗, 卡洛琳•博林格, MBA的25, stood by the 太阳城网赌平台 Veterans tent with her own tailgating accessory: puppies. 不像那些喧闹的老鹰队球迷, the puppies were calm while droves of students and alumni stopped by to meet them.
In 2022, 巴林杰和她的丈夫创办了“北松犬”, a farm in New Hampshire that ethically breeds and trains dogs to fulfill the needs of the military special operations and law enforcement communities. The tailgate was a priceless training environment for these future working dogs, but Ballinger says it was also a step toward achieving her goal of giving back to the veteran community as an entrepreneur.
卡罗琳·巴林杰，25届MBA
“Opportunities like bringing the dogs to campus are a remarkable reaffirmation that I made the right choice in community and program,巴林格说。. 在海军陆战队和海军服役17年后, she entered the classroom last fall as a full-time MBA student to learn how to best run her company. While the knowledge she has gained within the classroom so far has been integral, she adds that it’s the support she’s felt from the University as a whole that has shown her the real value of a 太阳城网赌平台 education.
对于一些退伍军人, pursuing an MBA can be a practical way to translate their military experience into the civilian workforce, but the advantages go beyond opportunities for professional development. “Quite a few veterans choose to go back to school after leaving the service,” Ballinger says. “这是给自己时间重新适应正常生活的一种方式, everyday American life as opposed to knowing your life may be in danger nonstop.”
然而，这种转变的困难可能令人震惊. 埃文·纳尔逊, MBA的25, left for Marine Officer Candidates School just days after receiving his undergraduate degree in 2019. 在他23岁的时候, he had quickly risen within the ranks and was managing more than 30 people as a platoon commander and officer in charge. 在2023年退役后, he came to 太阳城网赌平台 hoping to maintain similar levels of responsibility in a civilian workplace.
Nelson expected the challenge of navigating the unfamiliar MBA curriculum, 但当我通过会计考试和小组项目时, he had to relearn how to be a part of the civilian community as well. “There are a lot of communication barriers that you don’t even realize you have until you get out. There are customs, courtesies, and traditions that you get used to,” he says. “这是一种有意识的、精神上的重新调整.”
Student veterans at 太阳城网赌平台 don’t have to endure this transition alone. With a substantial community on campus—150 veterans were enrolled in Fall 2023, including 45 MBA students—the University has made a conscious effort to meet the needs of these students. 自2021年以来, 迈克·洛伦兹 has been the assistant director for military and veteran support, 专门致力于确保校园里的所有退伍军人都能感受到自己的存在. “我认为退伍军人很容易感到迷茫, 尤其是当你从军队进入高等教育的时候,洛伦兹说, 空军退伍军人. “It’s my job to help them find community here and get the resources they need.”
迈克·洛伦兹
Lorenz’s role spans from assisting with routine paperwork for financial programs to working with departments across campus to ensure veterans’ needs are considered. 他还为校园里的老兵社交活动提供帮助, including helping Ballinger coordinate the logistics of bringing her dogs to the tailgate last fall. “The greatest ability of my job is that I can give veterans personal attention,” Lorenz says.
This attention to individualized needs made a big difference in Colleen Rezabek’s decision to pursue an MBA at the 卡罗尔学校. Rezabek, MBA的25, 回忆起在她的一次太阳城网赌平台面试中, 她的学生面试官, 攻读MBA二年级的人, 他也是一名老兵. “这让我进入了舒适区，因为这让我觉得BC得到了它,Rezabek说, who previously served as the HR officer for a US Army expeditionary military intelligence battalion. “It made me confident that they understood how my experiences can translate to what I am learning in the classroom.”
“Quite a few veterans choose to go back to school after leaving the service. 这是给自己时间重新适应正常生活的一种方式, everyday American life as opposed to knowing your life may be in danger nonstop. ”
The basic aid for qualifying veterans is through the Post-9/11 GI Bill, but the program only covers expenses at the in-state rate of public institutions. 因为这个原因, 学校加入了黄丝带计划, a partnership in which institutions of higher education can add funding and have it matched by the Department of Veterans Affairs. 太阳城网赌平台 has continued to increase its support through Yellow Ribbon, now covering the full costs of tuition for those enrolled in full-time MBA, BC法, 以及太阳城官网生社会工作项目, 作为鼓励退伍军人申请这些项目的一种方式.
对于像巴林杰这样的学生, 谁希望继续开创自己的创业之路, 或者像纳尔逊和雷扎贝克这样的人, who want to build upon their military experiences to pursue careers in management, 卡罗尔商学院的MBA学位是无价的. 但是玛丽莲·埃克尔曼, 卡罗尔学院负责太阳城官网生项目的副院长, 他表示，经验丰富的人对MBA经历同样重要. “So much of an MBA education is about learning from your peers,” she says. “Veterans have seen things and experienced things that add to the classroom and community.”
“退伍军人有一种感激之情, who look at their education as something they earned from their service,巴林格说。. “你要冒很大的风险才能获得这种好处, 你可以看到这种教育将提供的价值.”
