Texas A&M Brings First Warrior-Scholar Program to the State
Aggies know the value of serving others, but they’ve proven that It Just Means More when it comes to serving our veterans.
Last year, for the first time, Texas A&M opened its doors to the Warrior-Scholar Project. Founded on the Yale campus in 2012, the program helps former enlisted service members rediscover and develop the skills they need to earn their first college degree. In short, it’s all about transferring skills they already have to help them thrive in an academic environment.
Texas A&M is the first university in Texas to offer the program, but it’s joining an elite group of host campuses, including Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Georgetown, MIT, and Cornell, among others. Plus, the Aggies are giving even more — they’re one of seven institutions offering a weeklong seminar that focuses specifically on science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education.
So how does it work? It starts with three pillars: academic writing and reading; tactical and technical skills, including note-taking, studying, and time management; and confidence-building and transition. David Cornavaca, a veteran U.S. Navy corpsman, was a member of the 2017 cohort. “A program like this puts veterans in a better position going forward. When we start classes, we want to be calm and prepared and not feeling like the chaos of the first day of boot camp.”
For some, a week on campus helps strengthen reading habits, and for others, it sharpens writing skills. Felicia Martinez was hoping for the latter, but what she got exceeded her expectations, sharing, “I came looking for writing skills, but I got so much more.” The 40-year-old lives with her daughter in New Mexico, where she plans to study animal sciences at New Mexico State University. Visiting College Station for the Warrior-Scholar Project gave Martinez an extra boost for her journey. Now she’s prepared to pursue a degree after 21 years of service as an intelligence analyst in the U.S. Army.
Col. Jerry Smith, director of Texas A&M’s Veteran Resource & Support Center and a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, is sure that the program will equip student veterans with confidence. “They have served our country in some of the most challenging situations and environments you can imagine, so we know that with a little extra help, they can successfully earn a college degree and excel in their future careers,” Smith said.
Sidney Ellington agrees. The executive director of the Warrior-Scholar Project is excited to bring the program to a school with such a “rich military history.” “We want to couple the leadership traits, the team-building exercises, adaptability, and problem-solving learned from the military with a great education from a school like Texas A&M,” he said. “What you have then is a civic leader of tomorrow.”
In 2017, 84 veterans had completed previous Warrior-Scholar programs; all are still enrolled at four-year institutions.
By easing the transition to college, the Warrior-Scholar Project is helping empower former enlisted service members all over the nation. At Texas A&M, It Just Means More confidence for student veterans pursuing higher education.
