Student Veterans from Saint Leo University attended a national annual conference early in January; Student Veterans of America National Convention 2018 (NatCon) was held from Jan. 4 to Jan. 6 in San Antonio, Texas.
The three-day conference was attended by approximately 2,500 student veterans and additional staff; there were 11 Saint Leo students and a staff member at the conference. This conference is the “largest annual gathering of student veterans, advocates, thought-leaders, stakeholders, and supporters in higher education in the world,” according to conference.studentveterans.org.
“Last year, Saint Leo attended this conference for the first time with 14 students from campus, centers and online, and one staff member. This year, we again were able to take student veterans to participate and gain from this forum. The students give up their break to attend and meet other student veterans and military-affiliated students, but definitely, the conference opens their eyes to what they can have as goals for their education and involvement at their universities and in their own communities. This year, we again had our student veterans and an ROTC cadet attend,” said Pamela Martis, Associate Vice President of the Office of Military Services Colonel.
Those students who attended are a part of the Saint Leo Student Veteran of America (SVA) Chapter.
“Our Saint Leo SVA Chapter is the 1000th chapter in the country, and there are only 1500 in the U.S. Our main chapter is at University campus, but we are working on developing branches for our centers and online students as well,” said Martis.
In fact, Martis stated that the Saint Leo Virginia Centers are working on developing branches of the chapter there.
This conference was also a great opportunity for the students from main campus and centers to interact with one another. In fact, eight students from University Main Campus and three from Corpus Christi Center attended.
One of the students who attended the conference mentioned his experience about having students from the centers at the conference.
“The experience of meeting the Corpus Christi students was great since we got to share experiences of being at main campus vs. off-site campuses,” said Xavier Shipman, a criminal justice major and Marine Corps veteran.
The event was also a great opportunity for the student veterans to network and to learn about many aspects life, including employment, resume building, and transitioning processes.
“The event was very informative, inspiring, and vital to the support of student veterans in their transition into school, civilian life, and future employment. The thing that makes NATCON stand out is that it is operated by veterans for veterans and it provides the skills and support to find employment through businesses who want to hire veterans,” added Shipman.
Also, the conference has excellent network opportunities as well. In fact, one of the students from Saint Leo had a chance to get interviewed with the Apple company at the conference.
“NATCON honors all veterans and the schools that support us. Norman Widamen, a student at our main campus, was interviewed by Apple and was invited to sit at their table during the banquet. Norman is now waiting for a second interview to be scheduled,” said Shipman.
Another student veteran from Saint Leo that attended the conference was Michael Carbonaro, a freshman majoring in biology and another Marine Corps veteran; this was his first time going to the conference.
“This conference is to bring student veterans from all schools across the entire United States together to assist them with finding employers, networking, and advice in transitioning into the civilian population, whether it be integrating into university life out of the service, or integrating into the workforce, and how to properly set up ourselves and our fellow veterans for success,” said Carbonaro.
Carbonaro commended the conference and explained some of what it had to offer.
“The conference was a great experience, well-organized. There were classes for us to go to get information on how to transition successfully back into the civilian population as well as opportunities to network with other veterans, employers, and foundations,” said Carbonaro. “Some takeaways were how to utilize Linked-in to further networking with employers, tips to help build a sound resume, and the importance with getting involved with other veterans/veteran groups on campus.”
As the staff member who attended the conference, Martis talked in detail of the highlights from the conference.
“The speakers and group presentations were excellent with one of the best presentations from General (R) George Casey, former Chief of Staff of the Army, who discussed why student veterans need to network and join organizations like SVA as they go on and become the leaders in their schools and communities and continue the service they started in their military careers,” stated Martis. “Overall, a very good experience for those student veterans who were able to attend and now their mission is to spread the word to fellow veterans and military-affiliated students who can join our Saint Leo SVA chapter or a branch at their local centers or online.”
One of these students who want to spread the word is Carbonaro. Although this is only Carbonaro’s second semester on campus, he is involved with Saint Leo SVA Chapter. In fact, most of the students, who attended the conference are a part of the Saint Leo SVA Chapter here on Main campus. The Saint Leo SVA Chapter is an organization that is systematized to foster a community among student veterans, those on active duty, and military-affiliated students, such as military family member students and ROTC cadets. The Saint Leo SVA Chapter is doing just that and is also seeking to bring more awareness to other student veterans, as Carbonaro explained.
“The [purpose of]SVA chapter at Saint Leo is to bring student veterans together one to help each other out become successful and continuing to achieve greatness,” said Carbonaro. “Our main focus and goal is to improve the awareness of the group, get more student veterans involved, and to set up more events that will expose us to other organizations and help ultimately shine light on opportunities for individuals to continue their path to success.”
In addition, this chapter is seeking to spread its wings to involve the centers as well. The new director of the Office of Military Services Colonel, Fanny Wright, who is a retired Master Sargent, U.S. Air Force 1, is looking forward to helping the leadership of the Saint Leo Chapter to grow branches at other centers, added Martis.
Carbonaro also mentioned that the chapter is planning events to achieve their goal of spreading awareness to attract more student veterans. For example, the Saint Leo SVA Chapter will have a membership barbecue before the Hometown Heroes night, which will be held Feb. 24. The Athletic Department is involved in this event as well, as they are planning to have the event at the Marion Bowman Center for the last men’s and women’s basketball games.
Another future event will be a presentation where the students who attended the conference will discuss the topics and highlights of the SVA conference.
“We will each be putting together a few slides talking about what we learned while attending the national conference and presenting it to Saint Leo SGU,” mentioned Carbonaro.
Martis pointed out that anyone interested in learning more about the best practices for student organizations on campus is invited to attend.
