Hey everyone,
This is my first blog so I am sharing my personal experiences on issues that I have encountered so that it can somehow help someone who is going through the same situation. If you have any questions please feel free to post it to the blog and I will try my best to answer to the best of my knowledge, or will guide you in the right direction.
The transition from military to civilian life is hard, but if you stay determined and focused you will succeed. I know that talking about our experiences in Iraq can become very difficult. I personally found it easier to relate to someone who is a veteran and has been through the same or similar situation and for me that was my boyfriend who is also a veteran.
This enabled me to vent and express all the emotions that I was going through and not let it build up. From my personal experience I realized that by communicating with other veterans who have already been through the process of transitioning has helped me a lot. I asked questions and conducted research online as much as possible to educate myself of what benefits I am entitled to as a disabled veteran.
I found that networking through the VA system can become very time consuming and is not a very easy process. I have experienced being denied for certain benefits where I had to appeal. I have many friends that are not persistent for their benefits and this is where we as veterans fail. If there is a decision you do not agree with, you should not be afraid to appeal the decision. Trust me; there is nothing worse than not trying.
After separating from the Army I was enrolled in school using my Montgomery Bill, but
this
money
wasn’t
enough
because
I
had
to
take
care
of
additional
costs
that
were
not
in
the
tuition.
For
example,
I
had
to
purchase
a
laptop
to
do
my
assignments
and
also
books
and
stationery.
By communicating with another friend of mine who is also a veteran he told me about the Voc Rehab program, which
I
knew
nothing
about.
I
then
went
online
to
www.va.gov checked
under
the
education
benefits
program
and
looked
up
vocational rehabilitation.
After doing my research I found out that this would be a better program for me as they not only pay for school but they provided a monthly allowance to help with other school expenses. This is a program for veterans who are 30% or more disabled. I then called the VA Benefits hotline # 1800-827-1000 and spoke to a representative and requested an application form for the program, which was sent via the mail. I completed the application and mailed it to the office for processing.
I was sent a letter for an appointment to meet with a Voc Rehab counselor. After meeting with the counselor I completed all the necessary paperwork where I was approved. This was while living in Louisiana, however, I had to move to charlotte NC therefore my file was transferred to NC where I was denied. Although I was feeling disappointed I could not let the denial get me down, I didn’t let that become a deterrent but instead I found out the reason for my denial and what I needed to do in order to be approved. It took 5 months before I finally got approved. So this situation shows that I practice what I preach. I always encourage individuals to persevere and never give up.
Now that I am pursuing my Bachelor degree I had to research and find ways to get scholarships. A
very
good
website
and
program
that
I
found
was
www.horatioalger.com they
have
a
program
especially
for
veterans
that
served
in
Iraq
and
Afghanistan.
I
have
also
found
that
there
is
useful
information
on
www.military.com I
have
found
a
number
of
scholarship websites through this that target veterans specifically. They also have a section that involves career fairs for veterans and information on the dates and time of the career fair and how and when to pre-register for the event.
Here are some addtional websites I found useful.
Jobs
My favorite websites are:
Phone numbers
VA Benefits 1-800-827-1000
Education 1-888-442-4551
I hope that you find all this information useful.