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Connecting to Courses
Her first connection with Queens College was 2017-2018 when she was majoring in Chinese. (Born 37 years ago in Fuzhou, China, she came to the United States with her parents when she was 11. Other than two deployments with the Guard to Kuwait, she has lived almost entirely in the New York City area.)
About to embark on her third to deployment to Kuwait, Rimal wanted to resume her studies at QC. In particular, she needed a course of study that would allow her to take courses online.
“This fall semester, Lt. Col. Erazo helped me re-enroll at QC,” says Rimal, referring to Janet Erazo, a lieutenant colonel in the New York National Guard, who was serving as interim associate director of Veterans Support Services (VSS) in the absence of Associate Director Dennis Torres until his return from family leave.
Rimal explains that Erazo had her submit her civilian and military transcripts and resumes (things studied at other schools and in the military) and, with the assistance of Academic Advising Director Laura Silverman, helped determine alternative courses of study for Rimal—ones that offered online study and would provide career options that interested her.
Initially, she is taking one online course with the intention of adding additional online courses next semester, once she’s settled in Kuwait.
Erazo, a citizen-soldier, is a finance officer assigned to Joint Forces Headquarters, Division of Military and Naval Affairs in Latham, New York (headquarters of the adjutant general). She mentors other soldiers the way she does at VSS so that they will know how to maximize what they’ve learned in the military in the civilian sector. She notes that soldiers acquire specific technical skills, field skills, and leadership skills. She shares with them, she says, how to become their own career counselors, determining areas of experience they might want to emphasize to make them more valuable to employers. Of the benefits of military service, she tells them, “Where else can you go where they pay you to learn a skill, and pay you while you learn it?”
Erazo says her own military experience over 23 years with multiple deployments for 9/11 and to Iraq, Kuwait, and Ukraine helps in assisting veterans: “You can share experiences with them. It gives you more credibility.”
Veterans Now
VSS is currently assisting 133 veterans who are studying at QC. Pre-pandemic, the number was more typically 250, says Erazo.
Describing how VSS at QC helps student veterans, she notes there’s an academic adviser specifically dedicated to their needs, as well as a school certifying official who certifies the Veterans Administration (VA) educational benefits available to them under the GI Bill (the Post -9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008). The VA also funds work-study positions for student veterans to work at VSS.
Additionally, PROVE (Project for Return and Opportunity in Veterans Education) provides master's-level interns from the Hunter College Silberman School of Social Work, who work with students currently in the military and those who’ve completed service, providing support and connecting them to the resources they need as they transition from or integrate their military and college life. Student veterans also have their own lounge in the Student Union, with computer workstations, couches, a refrigerator, and TV.
“It’s about getting veterans to know what kind of resources the college has and connecting them to what they need on campus or elsewhere,” says Erazo.
A former PROVE intern herself, Erazo conducts an overall assessment of their skills, aptitudes, lifestyle, and dreams. “How can we help translate these into an education plan that sets them up to reach their future goals?” she continues. “They come in and I’ll say, ‘What’s your major?’ They’ll say, ‘Economics.’ And I’ll say, ‘Are you good at that? It looks like you got all Cs.’ And they’ll say, ‘I want to work for the MTA.’ And I’ll say, ‘You don’t need that to work for the MTA, but if that is what you want, lets develop a plan so you’re successful.'"
When needed, Erazo will interface with different departments, including academic areas, tutoring and day care, to help make adjustments in a student veteran’s course of study that will help set them on a more productive path. "It takes the whole team sometimes,” she notes. “It’s not always so cut and dry. And it feels really good.”
Bang for the Buck
Referring to Rimal, Erazo explains how she interested her in a course of study that she could pursue while deployed, emphasizing that she needed to get more “bang for the buck” than she was in studying Chinese, a language in which she was already fluent. Rimal ultimately chose Political Science, and was able to receive a minor in Chinese for her previous coursework.
Reflecting on her experience at QC, Rimal says she likes the faculty and the support she receives and says it’s why she’s committed to completing her studies as a Political Science major at QC: “I’m fully committed to keep going until I get that bachelor’s degree.”
“I have five more years until I retire from the military,” she continues. “With a Political Science degree, I see the possibility of a career with government entities or working with a non-profit organization, both of which I’m very interested in. And, of course, also having the option of online courses while I’m away ultimately contributed to my decision.”
“Overall,” she concludes, “I’m very, very happy and grateful for the support I’ve received at Queens College.”
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