Vets get schooled at fair

The CUNY College Fair for Veterans, hosted by Borough of Manhattan Community College, took place on Wednesday Oct. 16th. CUNY representatives welcomed U.S. veterans to the informative event.

According to the CUNY Newswire, the fair was part of CUNY and BMCC's "renewed mission to help military veterans transition from the battlefield to the classroom, and society in general."

"This is our third annual event and this year is the best; I like the way the event is taking shape," said Wilfred Cotto, CUNY's coordinator of veterans affairs.

As a veteran who served in the U.S. Navy for 28 years, Cotto expressed the importance of the outreach recruitment effort and how it will benefit veterans in their pursuit of higher education.

"This is an opportunity for [them] to speak to officials from financial aid, and is a wonderful experience to meet other students involved," said Cotto.

The fair consisted of CUNY admissions officers and financial aid representatives as well as members of the CUNY Office of Veterans Affairs, which provided information about the different assistances programs offered.

"I don't have to explain too much financial aid information because most of them know about it and they are serious about what they want to do," said Baruch representative John Seto.

John Miller, a veteran currently working for Prestige Hotel Reservations, said, "I'm looking into continuing my education and I decided to take advantage of this opportunity today. With a bachelor's degree already attained, Miller plans to grow in his career and kept CUNY "as another considerable alternative."

"My dream is to work for the History Channel and I want to begin to build my credentials for this career," said Miller.

Moderated by Stephen Clark, assistant to the director of Disability and Veterans Affairs, the event also included a panel discussion with the members of the CUNY Veterans Affairs office. They spoke about the application process, life as a student-veteran and other provisions for veterans returning to school.

Arthur Lozeau, from the U.S. Division of Veterans Affairs, discussed "the good benefits" of the new chapter of the G.I. Bill under the Yellow Ribbon G.I. Education Enhancement Program, housing allowances for half-time students, as well as the New York State Award for Combat paid through the New York State Higher Education Services Corporation specifically for military and combat services.

Associate Director Dzelika Daniel, working for Student Financial Aid under CUNY Central, talked about the financial aid process as well as the Veteran Tuition Award.

"What we cover in financial aid aside from advisement on the different programs that are out there from a federal and student aid perspective, we also make sure your awards are completely in adherence to what you're allowed to have," said Daniel. "We try to make sure that everything fits within a combined amount and in coherence with the federal and state rules."

Bobby Anfang, a student-veteran at Hunter College working under the Project for Return and Opportunity in Veterans Education (P.R.O.V.E.), based his platform on the transition back to college life. As a National Guard veteran who was deployed to Iraq, he gave a personal anecdote on the sense of "boredom and isolation that student veterans my experience."

"It's a weird experience; everything in the military versus everything in the civilian work is completely different," said Anfang. "The main reason why I went to Hunter College was to get involved with P.R.O.V.E. and get involved with veterans, and that's where I am today."