Peer Counseling College Student Analysis

The college student who has served this country’s military represent a growing population on college campuses. This growth has led to more attention being put into their health and adjustment while being college students. The research conducted by authors Whiteman, Barry, Mroczek, and Macdermid suggest that students who are serving or are veterans may have trouble connecting with their peers and feel rather isolate and as if they have to keep to themselves. The research focuses on a comparison of emotional support from peer counseling among 199 students who are serving or are veterans and 181 civilian students over the course of an academic year. The data that was collected was via an electronic survey. The survey said how they felt about emotional support from
This large presence of military personnel who has been receiving a higher education has increased since 9/11 when Veterans Education Assistance Act of 2008 passed and they started to receive financial assistance and benefits for serving in the Afghanistan and/or Iraq
I found it interesting that an undergraduate veteran at the University of Michigan said “I didn’t know other veterans on campus. And I wasn’t able to relate to younger students, not in the military”. It is a different maybe more complicated process for this group to adjust to student life. These results should be considered in unison with DiRamio and colleagues’ (2008) assertion that “the transition to college was among the most difficult adjustments made when returning from wartime service” (p. 97). As a peer counselor in training, it is important to be aware of every students needs and how their all different and having different that you can help by just listening and helping them adjust during their college