Veterans Upward Bound
“The key to success is seeing opportunity where others see only difficulty”
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Contact Department of TRiO Programs
SUCCESS STORIES
Kyler Marutzky
I am a proud veteran of the United States Military, and I served for over six years in the U.S. Air Force where I was an F-16 tactical aircraft maintenance technician (Crew Chief). I attained the rank of Staff Sergeant and was stationed at various locations throughout the U.S. including Osan Air Base, South Korea. When I separated from the Air Force, I dreamt of becoming a mechanical engineer. However, I felt I wasn't prepared at that time to enter college to get my degree. Not only had I been out of school for seven years, but I also had done poorly in high school math and was easily frustrated with the learning process. I was determined to overcome my math fear when I discovered the Veterans Upward Bound program at ASU from my VA representative. This free program offers classes in English, math, and computer skills as well as guidance to help veterans, like me, transition into university courses. Through the guidance and determination of the caring staff at VUB, I received the confidence and tools I needed to succeed in my classes at the university. I am currently a mechanical engineer major at Arizona State University and have earned excellent grades to date. I made the 2007-2008 Ira A. Fulton dean's list and was recognized for being in the top 20% of my class. I am also the recipient of the ASU School of Engineering Dr. Turnbow Scholarship. Even though a degree in engineering is a difficult one to achieve, I feel that the VUB program and staff prepared me to be successful, and my goal is attainable.Joseph Little
School of Social Work grad helps vets deal with post-traumatic stress
By Corey Schubert
It wasn't the upbeat tune that changed Joseph Little's academic life. It was the whistler.
Little was having trouble studying for his Master of Social Work degree at 5 a.m. one morning sitting outside on a bench. He was in a lot of pain, wearing a full body medical brace from wounds he sustained as an Army Ranger in Vietnam. Already faced with a learning disability from concussions in the war, Little - a recipient of three Purple Hearts - almost dropped out of college at that moment. “I wondered, what am I doing here? Then I heard someone whistling around the corner, approaching fast,” he recalls. “A man appeared in a wheelchair. He was a double amputee. I knew it was time to get off my pity pot and get back to work.” Now Little, a 2003 graduate of Arizona State University's School of Social Work, is applying his ASU education and personal experiences to help combat veterans at the Phoenix Veterans Center. He was honored in September as a “National TRiO Achiever” for 2008 by the Council for Opportunity in Education at a conference in Washington, D.C. The prestigious award recognizes his dedication as a team leader and readjustment counselor at the center where he helps veterans deal with post-traumatic stress disorder.
TRiO is the umbrella for a group of federal programs that help disadvantaged students and veterans. It includes ASU’s Veterans Upward Bound, or VUB, designed for veterans who were discharged under conditions other than dishonorable. VUB prepares them for success in post-secondary education, G.E.D. preparation and personal growth. Little, who is 59, remembers being hesitant to enroll in college because he was concerned about attending classes as an adult while the majority of students would be recent high school graduates. But he was inspired by the TRiO program to complete his bachelor’s and master’s degrees. He did so while maintaining a full-time job as a readjustment counselor at the Phoenix Veterans Center and a 24-hour internship each week as a crisis counselor for the Phoenix Fire Department. The School of Social Work helped him to “put the theory behind what I was already doing as a volunteer,” he says. “It felt like a natural niche for me in life,” Little says. “It wasn’t about monetary reward; it was about liking what I’m doing.” He has provided outreach counseling to several U.S. military bases, primarily for Special Operations groups returning from Iraq and Afghanistan. Little’s volunteer work includes teaching fire and police crisis units how to perform on-scene intervention with survivors.
To learn about Veterans Upward Bound at ASU, visit http://www.asu.edu/studentaffairs/trio/vub.html. The School of Social Work is part of the College of Public Programs at the Downtown Phoenix campus. For information, visit http://ssw.asu.edu/portal.
