{"id":105260,"date":"2018-08-24T13:53:13","date_gmt":"2018-08-24T13:53:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/08\/24\/from-boots-to-books-how-tailored-college-classes-help-vets-in-transition\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T11:48:46","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T11:48:46","slug":"from-boots-to-books-how-tailored-college-classes-help-vets-in-transition","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/militarytimes\/veterans\/2018\/08\/24\/from-boots-to-books-how-tailored-college-classes-help-vets-in-transition\/","title":{"rendered":"From \u2018Boots to Books\u2019: How tailored college classes help vets in transition"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Many veterans lose a sense of identity when they leave the military. This California community college is trying to change that.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n

PASADENA, Calif. \u2014 Nathan Kemnitz walked onto the campus of Pasadena City College wounded from war, fighting addiction and wondering whether enrolling in school was the best idea.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t really sure that I could do this,\u201d the Marine veteran said in a recent interview on campus. \u201cI was going to AA meetings when I got out here and lived in sober living with other guys, and so when I came here to the college, I was kind of raw.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kemnitz was dealing with physical disabilities and emotional trauma resulting from an IED blast in Fallujah, Afghanistan, that took the use of his right arm and eye. On top of that, he\u2019d been out of school for nearly a decade and had forgotten how to write papers and add fractions, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then he found himself sitting in a first-year class called Boots to Books, a course designed to help veterans transition from military to civilian life. Part of a larger program that groups veterans into cohorts for their first semester of classes, the Boots to Books curriculum emphasizes skills needed to succeed in college, such as studying, writing and public speaking. The course even tackles more complex issues, such as anger management and post-traumatic stress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The class helped Kemnitz develop study habits and better manage his time. Writing about his military experience and transition for assignments was also helpful, he said \u2014 as was learning from Professor Harold \u201cDoc\u201d Martin, a Vietnam veteran, who knew what it was like to transition out of the service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That was seven years ago. Now, Kemnitz, 34, is a Ph.D. student in geological sciences at the University of Southern California, an accomplishment he credits to the Boots to Books program and PCC staff, who genuinely care about helping student veterans succeed, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf I just came to Pasadena City College just as a veteran off the street and didn\u2019t get involved with a cohort, I might have made it, but I would not have exceeded or gone as far as I have today,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A ‘moral obligation\u2019<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For years, the California Community College System has been one of the top enrollers of students using the Post-9\/11 GI Bill<\/a> to pay for school. With just 313 of the system\u2019s 18,500 GI Bill students, according to federal data from last fiscal year, PCC\u2019s veteran enrollment is still more than 13 times what it was less than a decade ago.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was a real wake-up call for us,\u201d said Patty D\u2019Orange-Martin, coordinator of veterans services at the college. So when a fellow community college that had developed Boots to Books asked them if they wanted in, the school quickly adopted the course.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PCC is now passing on what they\u2019ve learned to other California schools looking to start a similar program.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe were not tasked with the mission to help these veterans transition, but now that they\u2019re here, it\u2019s a moral obligation,\u201d said D\u2019Orange-Martin. \u201cThey gave up four years or more of their lives. Some of them were hurt very badly. Others had a wonderful experience but are having a little bit of problems transitioning out and becoming a citizen back again rather than being a military member. So, it really is an obligation for us, as a state, to help these young men and women to get back to being a productive citizen within our society, rather than sort of being another lost generation like the Vietnam veterans.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

PCC veterans are about as nontraditional<\/a> as students come. About a quarter have seen combat, 25 percent have families and about 65 percent are disabled, D\u2019Orange-Martin said. Some students come straight to school after the military, with only a few days\u2019 break.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Marine veteran Nathan Kemnitz graduated from Pasadena City College in 2013. Now a Ph.D. student at the University of Southern California, he credits his academic success to PCC’s veteran programming. (Pasadena City College)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Professor Martin, who leads the Boots to Books program, tries to create an atmosphere in class that replicates the camaraderie of active duty. The class includes a three-day camping trip and is generally \u201cmuch freer and looser\u201d and more of a community than the students experience in other classes, where veterans are much older than their 18- to 20-year-old classmates, he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen they’re done with this class, they usually dovetail right into the veterans club, where they continue these friendships,\u201d Martin said. \u201cI find out that they’re studying together. They’re spending time in the weekends together. And this is where they’re connecting with other students.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Boots to Books was developed in 2007 as the nation\u2019s first college credit-bearing course to assist veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, according to the California Community Colleges website. The course is now offered at approximately 20 community colleges throughout the system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Elsewhere, colleges and universities across the country have rolled out similar offerings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Georgia Southern University\u2019s approach is called Combat to Classroom. West Virginia University offers a course based on the book, \u201cThe Transitioning Veteran in Higher Education,\u201d and at the University of Wyoming, veterans can enroll in a three-credit class that draws on students\u2019 military experiences to enhance their communication skills, according to schools\u2019 responses to a recent Military Times survey.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The University of Wisconsin-Superior\u2019s new military-to-civilian transition course was launched nearly a year ago, to help boost the school\u2019s 36 percent veteran graduation rate. Monte Stewart, coordinator of the school\u2019s Veteran and Nontraditional Student Center, said in an email that all of the students who took the fall 2017 class returned to the school for the spring semester, perhaps an early indicator of success.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe\u2019re very hopeful that this course can have a long-term impact on our student veterans,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Pasadena City College’s Boots to Books course for student veterans tackles everything from the practical skills needed to succeed in college to more complex issues like anger management and post-traumatic stress. Professor Harold “Doc” Martin said he likes to replicate the camaraderie in class that veterans had with their peers in the military. (Natalie Gross\/Staff)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

More than academics<\/b><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The feedback and anecdotal evidence about the impact of the Boots to Books class at PCC is strong, said D\u2019Orange-Martin. But it\u2019s not a \u201cfix-all,\u201d she said, and even after doing it for 10 years, it\u2019s difficult to measure Boots to Books\u2019 success with hard data. While student veteran retention rates at the school are high, many struggle academically.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWhen I looked at the statistics, they weren\u2019t all as glowing as I would\u2019ve wanted,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But then she read the essays students turned in at the end of the semester.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMany of them said that if it hadn’t been for this class, it hadn’t been for the program, that they don’t know if they’d still be here,\u201d she said. \u201cSome of them actually said that they would have committed suicide because they felt so alienated before they took the class. And others said that this was the best class and the best program they could have been in because it really helped them reconnect with that civilian world\u2026. So when you look at it from that perspective in a more holistic viewpoint, it is very successful.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Kemnitz is a shining example.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI would have kind of just been lost in the crowd,\u201d he said. \u201cI still would have been dealing, maybe, with all the crap that was going on inside of me.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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