The sight of people walking around in military uniforms remains a surprising one for many on the Tufts campus, as it is at most colleges in the Northeast. However, with more and more members of the armed forces returning from active duty, people with military service already on their résumé are becoming more common at institutions of higher learning.
The New York Times reported last month that over 300,000 veterans or their dependents are enrolled in colleges and universities. One of these veterans is Vijay Saraswat, who entered Tufts last fall with the class of 2013. His path toward Tufts was a long and winding one.
"I went to University of Massachusetts at Amherst for two years for no apparent reason, besides I just went there. Two years later I dropped out with a pretty poor GPA," Saraswat said. "It wasn't working out for me at all, and I decided I needed a kick in the pants pretty swiftly. So I figured the swiftest kick would be the U.S. Marine Corps."
He signed with the Marines in 2004 and remained on active duty until August of last year, serving for two back−to−back tours in Iraq as an Arabic linguist. He had just a few days between being released from active duty and beginning classes at Tufts.
Saraswat was accepted to Tufts through the Resumed Education for Adult Learning (REAL) program. Associate Dean of Undergraduate Education Jean Herbert said that there are about five veterans currently enrolled in the program.
"It's certainly an increase," Herbert said. "There are only about 55 or 60 [total] people in the program. One of the beauties of this program is that it is a fully integrated program; they have full access to all the university resources that other undergraduates have."
Students in the REAL program are strongly recommended to have already spent some time at an institution of higher learning, and they must be over 24 years of age and have strong letters of recommendation. REAL, which started as the Continuing Education Program in 1970 with the goal of allowing women to complete their degrees, began accepting men in 1976.
"As a result of the Vietnam War, we realized that there were men were coming back," Herbert said. "Men had left college either to be drafted or to volunteer, and they wanted to finish their degrees, so we thought ‘Well, OK. We're a co−educational institution; we should be doing this for men as well.'"
Adjusting to life at Tufts after life in the military can be difficult. One of the biggest challenges for Saraswat has been the change from the firm missions and accomplishments within the military to more nebulous assignments at Tufts.
"At the very least, I can point to someone I was serving with out there and in some small way I was taking care of them; I was making a difference in their life. I was doing something that actually had a concrete end to it," he said. "Now, I am just talking about things without actually doing anything concrete yet. I knew it wasn't going to be a cakewalk when I got out. I mean, the Marines wasn't a cakewalk at all, but in some ways this is tougher."
But Saraswat said that he is moving forward. "It's a great school. I hope I can figure out how to take full advantage of it," he said. Now that he has gotten through one semester, he is starting to get more involved in activities outside of class, including the Alliance Linking Leaders in Education and the Services (ALLIES). ALLIES' mission is to create a bridge for shared understanding between future civilian and military leaders.
Senior Margaret O'Connor, the head of ALLIES, noted that this bridge is essential. "Our distinct educational pipelines deepen a cultural disconnect between the military and mainstream society. But, especially at a school like Tufts, where a lot of people hope to pursue careers in national or international governance and development, those careers will ultimately cross paths with military officers and leaders," O'Connor said.
While its focus is on people interested in careers related to the military, ALLIES also attempts to attract a group of people from very different backgrounds. "ALLIES is totally non−political. We recruit engineers just as actively as we would veterans or ROTC," O'Connor said.
There is at least one military leader already at Tufts. An active−duty lieutenant in the Coast Guard, Jody Maisano is a student in the chemistry graduate program at Tufts. Maisano, after she graduates in the spring, will be a teacher at the Coast Guard Academy in New London, Conn.
Maisano graduated with a bachelor's degree from the Coast Guard Academy in 2004 and served in units in Florida and Alaska before coming to Tufts. Her on−duty life aside, she noted large differences between Tufts and the Coast Guard Academy.
"It's very, very different," Maisano said. "Many students here [at Tufts] laugh at me because the very first thing that caught me was that people here walk on the grass. I know if I say that to people they say, ‘Why is that weird? You walk on the grass. It's grass. Who cares?' Well, at the Coast Guard Academy, you don't walk on the grass because it's the admiral's grass, and you don't walk on it unless he gives you permission."
Even though its environment is far more disciplined, Maisano is looking forward to returning to the academy.
"I submitted a request sheet to attend graduate school through the academy instructor program so that I could then go back to the academy and teach chemistry," Maisano said. "Starting in August, I'll be teaching freshman chemistry, and all cadets are required to take chemistry freshman year."
Maisano has had both her college education and graduate school education funded in entirety through the Coast Guard in exchange for her service.
"It's a great opportunity to share what I've learned and help them on their way. That's why I'm looking forward to going back," Maisano said. "It's a good deal; it's fun, it's a great job, wonderful people. It's a great service in that our main mission is to go out and help people."
As for Saraswat, he still has three more years to decide on a concrete path for his future, but like Maisano, he wants to continue to give back to the United States.
"I wanted to be separated [from the Marines] in case I found something else here, like working for an NGO or for the State Department or the CIA or something like that. I definitely want to serve my country; there's no question in my mind whatsoever about that, but in what capacity can I do the most is the difference," Saraswat said.
