I have a good friend of mine, his name is Brian Castner.  He's a Iraq war vet, and an author, and he wrote the forward for our book.  I'm David Chrisinger.  I graduated from the University of Wisconsin- Stevens Point.  That's where I did my undergrad.  And they have this program called the First Year Seminar Program, that's designed for new students.  Well, let's just say that the veterans that were taking those courses, weren't doing very well because they weren't geared for veterans.  They were geared for 18-year-olds who were leaving home for the first time.  And the rates of student veterans leaving university after semester or two are way too high.  So, we got in this discussion about what could a veteran transition course look like.  I'm a trained historian, so I always looked at history as a way to sort of gain perspective about where you are and where you're going.  And I thought they could be helpful to the students, to see the history of veterans coming home from war.  How many similarities there were between them and past generations.  How past generations dealt with certain things, either poorly or well.  And that that would give them a little bit of perspective, that they're not alone.  That past generations have gone through the same experiences.  - My name's Tegan Griffith.  When I first heard of Dave's class, I was excited that it was a civilian that was leading the class.  And he had such a passion to learn about the student vets, and other vets around him, and then when he asked me to come and talk to his class, I was pretty taken aback by just his passion for us.  That a civilian was caring about us so much.  - I heard them grumbling to each other about, "What is this class about?" And, "Oh, this is some lame transition class. 
 
 
 "I'm gonna drop it. " And it took about a month that first semester, before I think they really started to get comfortable with me, and talk to each other, and talk to me in a very open and honest way.  And it really turned into this amazing dialogue about transitioning veterans.  And really, what we came up with was, they need to be allowed the opportunity to tell their stories, and then that's how we can better welcome people home, is to give them avenues to say, "This is what I went through, "and this what I learned. " That was really sort of the brainchild for the book.  The students were tired of being stereotyped, or tired of being misunderstood, and so I challenged them to tell me who they were.  Tell me what you want civilians to know, and they wrote these amazing essays that eventually turned into our edited collection.  - And I go, and I see these vets, these students in Dave's class, and they are wrestling with so much.  They're in a place that I used to be in, they're so new in their transition.  And I used to be there.  And here they are, all of a sudden, now writing their stories, right out of the gate.  - My name is Tyler Pozolinski.  I ask that you don't try and understand me.  I just ask that you hear me.  - Tegan: It's so raw, and it's so emotional, so revealing to put it out there.  - Alone.  Alienated.  Abandoned.  Your eyes scan the battlefield-- - You feel like you have all these things to say, and these things that are in your head.  And once you start writing or typing, whatever it is, getting it outside of you, you feel this immense sense of just a pressure release valve.  [applause] - Veterans take a while before they can gauge someone and open up to them. 
 
 
 But eventually, you learn to trust that person, and you feel, "Okay, this guy's not gonna try "and judge me, or analyze me.  "He actually genuinely cares, "and wants to listen to what I have to say. " - About week ten, something clicks where they're like, "I can do this.  "I can be successful here. " And you can see it.  I mean, their whole demeanor changes after they realize that.  Their facial expressions change.  They laugh more, they talk more, they interact with each other more.  - My friends, like the day we got published, I had had a few beers, and I bragged to them, I was like, "Oh, I'm a published author. " And they said right back to me, "Oh, is that supposed to impress me?" [chuckling] And I just thought about it, I was like, "That's fair. " - And now I know a lot of those students that were in that class.  But now, they're my peers at school.  And we see each other, we can communicate with each other.  And then you're not feeling like you're walking alone on campus.  - But, there just aren't a lot of universities who are doing what I'm doing.  My hope though, with our book project, and all these different avenues that we've had access to to tell this story, is that it will inspire other universities to at least try something along these lines.  I mean, it is absolutely the most rewarding professional thing that I've ever done.  To be a part of this, very interesting point in these students' lives. ECHO is on.