Traditional Students In The Military

Balancing military obligations, education and family life contributes to the pressures of military and veteran students. It is understandable that traditional adult students make numerous sacrifices to return to higher education. Higher education is only one of the many activities in which they are involved. More so, military students are the nontraditional students with additional stressors that are very different from the traditional students. These stressors contribute to the difficulties they experience in pursuing higher education. Returning to the educational environment for some military students is challenging if they have been absent from this environment for years. Simple things such as relearning study skills and reintroduction
The innovative training of the military focuses on adaptability and enhancing compliance within the military. For example, higher education promotes and requires a student to be a free thinker and develop a need to analyze and understand. The foundation of military education is the exact opposite, built on the premises of receiving orders, this is what will be learned and this is what will be followed and displayed. Simplification of education is to provide a level of skills that aids in problem solving for the military service member. Lower ranking service members receive training to think as a team and not as an individual. Providing instruction and training in the learning transition of adaptability, the military has been successful in motivating the service members to enhance their learning and gain an understanding in the educational setting (Cornell-d'Echert,
In some cases, the discharge from service of the military may be unexpected, leaving the service member unprepared for the transition. It is important that academic advisors are aware of the possible perceived lack of control that the service member may be experiencing. Although the period of transition is only temporary, the service member may not view his/her circumstance as short-term while feeling the transition is beyond his/her control. It could be beneficial for empathetic faculty and advisors to remind the military student that his/her response to the transition is within his/her control whether the transition is expected or unexpected. Reminding the student service member that the transition in the educational environment is not permanent will assist them in embracing the change in their lifestyle perceiving the situation as temporary rather than permanent (Rumann & Hamrick,