Chanel Powell served five years in the Army National Guard, including one year in Iraq, before it was time to retire her military gear and go back to college to chase her dream of becoming a lawyer.
Powell stood out in the National Guard. She was the only Black person and only woman in her platoon of more than 300 fellow soldiers.
It was difficult to adjust to civilian life when her contract for service ended in 2020, especially when it came to relating to people her age who did not serve in the military.
“I found it really hard to want to be involved, because I didn’t see where I fit in,” she said.
Challenges readjusting to civilian life are common for veterans. They can include difficulty relating to others, reconnecting with family members, living in a civilian community and adjusting to a less structured lifestyle, according to the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs Veterans Employment Toolkit.
An additional layer awaits veterans who enroll in higher education after they serve.
“To come back into higher ed is a really difficult transition,” Powell said. “There’s a lot of gears that have to be switched, from the culture you’re used to, to your day-to-day. In the military, you wake up and you’re pretty much told what to do, and you know what you’re supposed to be doing and you get it done.”
Nontraditional students
Unlike more typical college students, most student veterans are aged 24 to 40, and more likely to be married and have a dependent, according to the VA.
Powell, 26, first enrolled in college in 2014, at Long Island University, where she struggled academically.
“It was a lot of fun, but I didn’t take it seriously,” she said.
She felt structure was missing in her life and she couldn’t go on without it, so she decided to take a break from college and join the National Guard.
Powell never desired to go to the military before her college struggles, and no one in her family had served in the military, so she had no frame of…
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