Continuing to Serve After Their Service
Many students go to school, join a club or two based on their interests and focus on their classes and work to get them through the early years of college. But for a small minority of non-traditional students here at Western Wyoming Community College, the path is different. This group of students, many of whom are in their late 20s and early 30s, are members of the Veteran’s Club. The Veteran’s Club has been a staple at Western Wyoming Community College for many years. While its membership numbers are small, the club has made many meaningful contributions both in the lives of its members, and to the greater college and local community.
The Veteran’s Club’s primary goal is to help retired and former service members navigate the challenges associated with going back to school after years of military life. That includes understanding and managing the G.I. Bill benefits to providing members with a semblance of community in a world that might seem foreign to them after their service.
But the club’s work does not end there. The Veteran’s Club has also worked behind the scenes to help local veterans and their families when hardships occur, whether it is buying books or getting them a few meals to get them through until payday. The club is dedicated to this tight-knit community, providing an option outside the standard financial relief avenues in a way that often resembles that of the adage, “No man left behind.”
The Veteran’s Club also raises money every year to help others in the Rock Springs, Wyo. community, too, often donating money to public schools to pay off student lunch debt, giving time to soup kitchens and even donating money to provide soccer pads and equipment to local girls’ teams.
Veteran’s Club traditionally has held an event on Veterans Day, Nov. 11, on the campus, often serving breakfast for donations, though the pandemic posed a problem last year. But we’re hoping that we can bring this event back in 2021.
So, if you are interested in a club that serves those around them and you are not looking for the publicity or recognition, or you’re looking to support some of these causes, take a look at the Veteran’s Club, filled with “quiet professionals” looking to leave their school and community a little bit better than they found them.
