Carrie Ann’s Reading Log (Week of April 4th)

Posted by on April 5, 2010 
Filed under Reading logs

Are we doing enough for those who are serving our country and defending the rights of all Americans?  This is the question resonating in my thoughts as I read the article that Aracelie will present to us this week.  Having had family members that have served in the United States Armed Forces, I believe that we need to do all that we can to support the transition that our soldiers make back into civilian life after being in combat.

It was interesting to read that there has been research on veterans’ adjustment post WWII and Vietnam, but not on the most recent wars in our history (including the 1990’s Gulf War Conflict).  The researches also bring to light the condition that most soldiers have unfortunately been identified with, Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.  This disorder can affect all aspects of a veterans’ life and especially the assimilation into the college setting.  As I read through this article, the quotes about the emotional desensitization and change of personality you must overtake to get you through the combat situations really did make me shutter inside.  Also, this article went into the idea of maladaptive coping mechanisms that some of the subjects took part in and how some did not know about the VA services that could be available to them in order to make the adjustment easier into college life.

It was interesting to me that this article brought into light the “Whole Person” transition of these veterans into civilian life, not just merely the college experience, because we must remember that there is life outside of the academic setting.  I look forward to discussing this article and topic more in class this week and to hear what my colleagues believe about this topic as well.

Comments



Leave a Reply