WEBVTT - Empowering Veterans for Success: Warrior-Scholar Project 0:00:02.000 --> 0:00:05.400 After years of work, Ryan Pavel had finally landed his 0:00:05.480 --> 0:00:08.840 dream job with the Warrior Scholar Project. He was a 0:00:08.880 --> 0:00:12.280 military veteran turned lawyer who dreamed of working with other veterans. 0:00:12.920 --> 0:00:15.840 The Warrior Scholar Project had just received a huge grant 0:00:15.840 --> 0:00:18.200 that would allow them to bring him on as executive director, 0:00:18.920 --> 0:00:21.640 but right before he was supposed to begin, his boss 0:00:21.760 --> 0:00:23.239 suddenly left the organization. 0:00:24.760 --> 0:00:26.840 So I came on board. And I had this really 0:00:26.880 --> 0:00:29.600 small team of people who believed in the thing, like 0:00:29.720 --> 0:00:31.840 a few people, and we had enough money in the 0:00:31.880 --> 0:00:33.720 bank to be able to pay the bills. But the 0:00:33.800 --> 0:00:36.520 organization sustainability really depended on it grant. I didn't realize 0:00:36.520 --> 0:00:38.839 how much depended on it until I actually got a 0:00:38.840 --> 0:00:40.560 look at the. 0:00:40.000 --> 0:00:41.320 Full on financials. 0:00:41.640 --> 0:00:43.760 I also didn't realize that we were only in phase 0:00:43.800 --> 0:00:45.320 one of this big grant application. 0:00:45.520 --> 0:00:47.199 Okay, let me just make sure I have this right. 0:00:47.640 --> 0:00:49.919 You come on board on spec. You don't know how 0:00:49.960 --> 0:00:53.600 on spec it is. You desperately need this grant way 0:00:53.640 --> 0:00:56.920 more than you realize. You desperately need this grant, and 0:00:56.960 --> 0:00:59.240 it's a little further away than you sort of were 0:00:59.320 --> 0:01:05.720 led to believe. Yeah shit, all right, Yeah, welcome to 0:01:05.800 --> 0:01:10.160 The Unshakeables from Chase for Business and Ruby Studio from iHeartMedia. 0:01:10.560 --> 0:01:13.319 I'm Ben Walter, CEO of Chase for Business. 0:01:13.240 --> 0:01:16.399 And I'm Tanya Nebo, a lawyer and consultant for business owners. 0:01:16.880 --> 0:01:20.000 On The Unshakeables, we're sharing the daring stories of small 0:01:20.040 --> 0:01:23.720 business owners facing their crisis points and telling the stories 0:01:23.760 --> 0:01:26.920 of how they got through it. And today I want 0:01:26.920 --> 0:01:29.160 to introduce you to someone special who will be joining 0:01:29.200 --> 0:01:32.240 us on this episode. Mark Elliott is Managing Director and 0:01:32.319 --> 0:01:35.720 Global head of Military and Veteran Affairs for JP Morgan Chase, 0:01:35.880 --> 0:01:37.920 where I work, and we're excited to have him join 0:01:38.000 --> 0:01:41.479 us today. Hi. Mark, Welcome to the show. 0:01:41.640 --> 0:01:43.840 Ben, Thank you for having me and thank you for 0:01:44.160 --> 0:01:46.760 hosting this. I think this is important for not just 0:01:46.800 --> 0:01:50.320 the veteran community, but the entire small business community. 0:01:50.480 --> 0:01:52.880 We're fortunate enough to be colleagues, but JP Morgan Chase 0:01:52.920 --> 0:01:54.400 is a really big place, So why don't you tell 0:01:54.440 --> 0:01:56.360 everyone what it is you do for the firm. 0:01:56.840 --> 0:01:59.200 I do lead our military invention affairs here at JP 0:01:59.280 --> 0:02:02.440 Morgan Chase. I pinch myself every day just to know 0:02:02.480 --> 0:02:04.520 that I get to do this. It's a way to 0:02:04.600 --> 0:02:06.840 give back to a community that I spent twenty eight 0:02:06.880 --> 0:02:08.240 years serving alongside. 0:02:09.040 --> 0:02:11.280 So Mark, hopefully you know what our show is all about, 0:02:11.480 --> 0:02:13.080 and I think you've heard a couple episodes, but I 0:02:13.120 --> 0:02:15.600 wanted to have you join us today because you are 0:02:15.639 --> 0:02:18.520 a veteran and just like Ryan, you work with veterans 0:02:18.560 --> 0:02:21.320 all the time as they transition from military life into 0:02:21.360 --> 0:02:22.280 civilian life. 0:02:22.880 --> 0:02:25.639 Well, Ben, thank you for shedding a light on this community. 0:02:26.040 --> 0:02:27.920 I think they are a treasure that we should be 0:02:28.040 --> 0:02:30.960 proud of and make sure we're helping them be successful. 0:02:31.520 --> 0:02:39.600 On today's episode, the Warrior Scholar Project from Washington, d C. So, 0:02:39.720 --> 0:02:41.359 first of all, I just want to say, in front 0:02:41.360 --> 0:02:42.880 of everyone, I say thank you for your service. 0:02:42.960 --> 0:02:45.200 Thank you so much for your support. It's actually really 0:02:45.200 --> 0:02:47.320 interesting even that question about how veterans respond to that 0:02:47.400 --> 0:02:49.600 question of thank you for your service. That's really topical 0:02:49.600 --> 0:02:52.160 in the veteran community. There's a school of people that 0:02:52.240 --> 0:02:54.520 really reject that as like something that people don't like 0:02:54.560 --> 0:02:56.680 being thanked for their service. There's a whole lot of 0:02:56.680 --> 0:02:58.720 conversation about it, and it took me years before I 0:02:58.760 --> 0:03:01.040 heard somebody else say to do you didn't at all? No, 0:03:01.080 --> 0:03:02.560 but but put to that point, right, that that my 0:03:02.639 --> 0:03:04.200 response to that is actually what I found that is 0:03:04.200 --> 0:03:06.239 the most comfortable that you say thank you for your service, 0:03:06.240 --> 0:03:07.680 and then I always respond, you know, thank you for 0:03:07.720 --> 0:03:08.680 your support. 0:03:09.720 --> 0:03:13.120 Ryan, as you'll hear throughout this episode, has a complicated 0:03:13.160 --> 0:03:16.320 relationship with the military, but one thing is crystal clear. 0:03:16.919 --> 0:03:21.000 His support for veterans is unwavering. To understand how Ryan 0:03:21.080 --> 0:03:23.400 got to the Warrior Scholar project, we have to go 0:03:23.480 --> 0:03:24.240 back to the beginning. 0:03:25.680 --> 0:03:29.160 I grew up in a upper middle class suburb, very privileged, 0:03:29.200 --> 0:03:30.720 upbringing only child. 0:03:31.000 --> 0:03:32.239 Very very fortunate in that regard. 0:03:32.760 --> 0:03:34.880 And since I grew up outside Chicago, with the school 0:03:34.880 --> 0:03:37.240 everybody wanted to go to was University of Illinois, and 0:03:37.360 --> 0:03:40.520 I got rejected, and rightly so. I was not a 0:03:40.600 --> 0:03:44.040 particularly compelling candidate. I was not achieving my potential. My 0:03:44.080 --> 0:03:47.120 extracurriculars were track and cross country and getting last in 0:03:47.120 --> 0:03:48.520 a lot of those races. 0:03:49.200 --> 0:03:52.840 After that rejection, he didn't know where to turn. Then 0:03:52.880 --> 0:03:55.280 he spoke with a recruiter from the Marine Corps. 0:03:55.920 --> 0:03:56.800 Some things clicked for me. 0:03:56.840 --> 0:03:58.160 The path that I thought that I was going to do, 0:03:58.200 --> 0:04:00.360 the path that seemed easy, is not the path that 0:04:00.400 --> 0:04:02.080 I'm actually going to follow. Of just going to school 0:04:02.120 --> 0:04:05.120 and taking a major and studying something for the sake 0:04:05.160 --> 0:04:07.720 of studying something. It seemed like a really good way 0:04:07.720 --> 0:04:10.119 to be able to wipe the slate clean, at least 0:04:10.120 --> 0:04:12.360 of the junior ranks the military. It's a true meritocracy. 0:04:12.400 --> 0:04:14.120 All that matters is can you do this number of 0:04:14.160 --> 0:04:16.080 pull ups? Doesn't matter where you came from or anything 0:04:16.120 --> 0:04:18.479 else like that. I like that a lot service of 0:04:18.520 --> 0:04:20.960 country and a lot of pride, something that I could 0:04:20.960 --> 0:04:22.200 take a lot of pride ownership over. 0:04:23.360 --> 0:04:26.679 So Ryan he joined up. He went to basic training 0:04:26.760 --> 0:04:29.039 and took a series of aptitude tests to see what 0:04:29.200 --> 0:04:32.520 career he would be best suited for. His testing indicated 0:04:32.520 --> 0:04:35.200 he would excel in languages. So he set out learning 0:04:35.240 --> 0:04:37.160 Arabic all day. 0:04:37.160 --> 0:04:38.880 Every day. You're learning from native speakers. 0:04:38.920 --> 0:04:41.360 It's a tough language too, it's not a Roman alphabet 0:04:41.360 --> 0:04:41.760 the whole thing. 0:04:41.880 --> 0:04:43.520 Right, And you're not just a college student either, right, 0:04:43.560 --> 0:04:46.080 Like the Marine Corps still owns you, right, And so 0:04:46.160 --> 0:04:47.960 you are doing all the formations and all the training 0:04:48.000 --> 0:04:50.840 for the Marine Corps. But then you know your job 0:04:50.920 --> 0:04:54.080 is really to be able to actually learn that language. 0:04:53.640 --> 0:04:55.679 And how that go well, ups and downs? 0:04:55.720 --> 0:04:58.159 Right, It was not a particularly easy language right for 0:04:58.240 --> 0:05:00.120 me to learn, and so I needed some additional tutoring 0:05:00.160 --> 0:05:02.560 and I ended up doing okay. But the thing about 0:05:02.600 --> 0:05:05.200 it is that it all that matters is one test 0:05:05.240 --> 0:05:05.760 at the end. 0:05:05.920 --> 0:05:06.280 That's it. 0:05:06.320 --> 0:05:07.800 But you have to hit a certain line and you 0:05:07.839 --> 0:05:09.800 can either be a linguist or you can't. And I 0:05:09.839 --> 0:05:12.440 failed basically everybody around me passed it, and so it's 0:05:12.440 --> 0:05:14.400 sort of this series of failures. It's like, okay, well, 0:05:14.440 --> 0:05:16.040 I'm seventeen years old. I get rejected from you know, 0:05:16.120 --> 0:05:17.359 via Like okay, well, now I'm going to be an 0:05:17.360 --> 0:05:19.560 Arabic linguist. I tell everybody for a year and a 0:05:19.600 --> 0:05:21.400 half between boot camp and all these things, but I'm 0:05:21.400 --> 0:05:23.600 moving towards this thing, and I take this test. Well wait, 0:05:23.640 --> 0:05:24.680 now I failed this thing too. 0:05:25.680 --> 0:05:28.479 Ryan was given an option. He could either find another 0:05:28.520 --> 0:05:31.880 specialty or he could double down, work harder, and retake 0:05:31.920 --> 0:05:35.159 the test in eight weeks. Ryan decided to focus and 0:05:35.200 --> 0:05:35.760 go for it. 0:05:36.839 --> 0:05:38.800 I learned probably more Arabic in those eight weeks than 0:05:38.920 --> 0:05:41.000 and the rest of the sixty three weeks combined. Wow, 0:05:41.000 --> 0:05:42.479 And so I took it again and I passed, and 0:05:42.560 --> 0:05:44.919 so then I was able to leave that duty station 0:05:45.080 --> 0:05:46.960 went at North Carolina, and I went back and forth 0:05:46.960 --> 0:05:48.440 to a Rock from there a couple times between two 0:05:48.440 --> 0:05:49.400 thousand and twenty ten. 0:05:50.440 --> 0:05:53.120 During his time in the military, Ryan worked as an 0:05:53.160 --> 0:05:54.160 Arabic translator. 0:05:55.320 --> 0:05:57.560 You are working in a secure environment and you are 0:05:57.600 --> 0:06:00.440 translating whatever comes across your desk. We lived in a bunker, 0:06:00.839 --> 0:06:02.920 just kind of buried into a dune on the side 0:06:02.960 --> 0:06:05.360 of a base. I worked the night shift, so it's 0:06:05.400 --> 0:06:08.240 twelve hours on, twelve hours off for seven months, for 0:06:08.520 --> 0:06:11.039 seven days a week. So you get kind of weird, right, 0:06:11.560 --> 0:06:13.200 you know. Imagine that the folks that you're with, like 0:06:13.200 --> 0:06:15.200 you get real close in real weird ways. We were 0:06:15.200 --> 0:06:18.040 attached to an infantry unit and a human intelligence unit. 0:06:18.880 --> 0:06:21.960 He wasn't only in the bunker though. On his second tour, 0:06:22.320 --> 0:06:23.400 he went out into the field. 0:06:24.680 --> 0:06:26.640 A lot of my memories from Irock are those ones 0:06:26.640 --> 0:06:28.320 when we were out in the field and actually translating 0:06:28.320 --> 0:06:30.600 and meeting people from the communities. I grew up a 0:06:30.640 --> 0:06:33.640 lot like just being able to be around different cultures 0:06:33.680 --> 0:06:36.080 effectively kicked me into high gear in a way that 0:06:36.120 --> 0:06:37.920 I was not feeling when I was seventeen. 0:06:39.040 --> 0:06:41.480 At that point, Ryan had been in for five years, 0:06:41.720 --> 0:06:43.880 but he had never stopped wanting to go to school. 0:06:44.920 --> 0:06:48.239 Two thirds of enlisted service members are first gen college students, 0:06:48.720 --> 0:06:51.440 and so I was in the minority that I was 0:06:51.560 --> 0:06:53.599 not a first gen college student, which means that I 0:06:53.640 --> 0:06:56.240 had this familial support to be able to say, hey, like, 0:06:56.279 --> 0:06:57.960 college is a thing that you should be doing, but 0:06:58.000 --> 0:06:59.640 there still are these challenges in terms of what that 0:06:59.640 --> 0:07:00.880 transition can look like for me. 0:07:02.120 --> 0:07:03.599 So I'm sure many of you have heard of the 0:07:03.640 --> 0:07:06.400 GI Bill, which was first introduced after World War Two 0:07:06.560 --> 0:07:09.000 and provided veterans with a host of benefits, one of 0:07:09.040 --> 0:07:11.440 the best known being tuition coverage for a service member 0:07:11.480 --> 0:07:15.080 looking to attend college or vocational school. What we have 0:07:15.160 --> 0:07:17.040 now is a little different, and it was passed in 0:07:17.080 --> 0:07:20.000 two thousand and eight. This bill, the one Ryan would 0:07:20.040 --> 0:07:22.760 have access to, covered the cost of tuition for any 0:07:22.840 --> 0:07:26.120 university in the veterans' home state. One critique about the 0:07:26.120 --> 0:07:29.560 implementation of that bill is that there's low awareness among 0:07:29.680 --> 0:07:32.320 service members about the options that are available to them 0:07:32.360 --> 0:07:35.120 as they transition out of the military. Many veterans end 0:07:35.200 --> 0:07:37.760 up going to the college or university that advertises the 0:07:37.800 --> 0:07:40.440 most to them, rather than the institution that might be 0:07:40.480 --> 0:07:42.640 the best fit for their academic goals and needs as 0:07:42.640 --> 0:07:45.800 a student. In twenty ten, Ryan was in the same boat. 0:07:46.360 --> 0:07:48.720 Unsure of where to turn. He did what millions of 0:07:48.720 --> 0:07:50.920 people do every day when they're looking for answers. 0:07:52.120 --> 0:07:54.600 I went to Google, and I typed in on Arabic 0:07:54.640 --> 0:07:56.440 college and veteran and I applied to the schools that 0:07:56.480 --> 0:07:59.440 popped up. So not like the most sophisticated, you know, 0:08:00.080 --> 0:08:01.960 University of Michigan popped up at top of that list. 0:08:02.080 --> 0:08:03.680 So many Arab Americans live in that area that they 0:08:03.680 --> 0:08:06.480 have a phenomenal Arabic program at University of Michigan. So 0:08:06.640 --> 0:08:08.440 I applied and was promptly rejected. 0:08:09.640 --> 0:08:12.520 It was the University of Illinois all over again. But 0:08:12.680 --> 0:08:16.440 unlike seventeen year old Ryan, who pivoted former Marine, Ryan 0:08:16.520 --> 0:08:17.400 didn't back down. 0:08:18.600 --> 0:08:20.520 I called the admission's office and said, hey, I was 0:08:20.600 --> 0:08:22.520 very interested in your institution. Could you give me any 0:08:22.520 --> 0:08:25.560 sort of input on what led to that rejection. They 0:08:25.560 --> 0:08:28.400 connected me to somebody who'd actual viewed my application, and 0:08:28.520 --> 0:08:30.200 she was very blunt about it. She's like, you got 0:08:30.200 --> 0:08:31.440 some good things you want for you, but you haven't 0:08:31.440 --> 0:08:34.040 shown you can be a good student, which is fair, right, 0:08:34.080 --> 0:08:36.240 Michigan requires people to be good to studies. 0:08:36.320 --> 0:08:38.000 Yeah yeah, yeah. 0:08:38.080 --> 0:08:41.080 Ryan knew he could study. He shown himself that during 0:08:41.080 --> 0:08:44.400 his Arabic courses. So he enrolled at the community college 0:08:44.440 --> 0:08:46.679 near his base in North Carolina. 0:08:47.160 --> 0:08:48.760 While I was still active DUTEY in my last couple 0:08:48.760 --> 0:08:51.000 of months, just whatever the classes were that were available, 0:08:51.080 --> 0:08:52.439 which is a really common path for a lot of 0:08:52.520 --> 0:08:53.840 veterans using community college. 0:08:53.920 --> 0:08:55.960 It's one of the most underappreciated assets we have in 0:08:55.960 --> 0:08:59.400 this country. It's a whole separate podcaste. We agreed completely 0:08:59.480 --> 0:09:03.240 under valued, underfunded, underappreciated all across the board. 0:09:03.280 --> 0:09:06.120 Absolutely, And I was able to transfer to University of Michigan. 0:09:06.280 --> 0:09:08.600 I was there for two years, took as many courses 0:09:08.640 --> 0:09:10.920 as I possibly could to get my degree as quickly 0:09:10.960 --> 0:09:12.800 as I could, which is not the way that I 0:09:12.840 --> 0:09:15.959 advise veterans to go about getting undergraduate digression degree in 0:09:15.960 --> 0:09:17.480 international relations. 0:09:20.679 --> 0:09:22.880 So Mark, this is usually the part in our story 0:09:22.920 --> 0:09:24.840 where we take a moment and talk about what we've 0:09:24.880 --> 0:09:27.959 just heard. When I first met Ryan, we were introduced 0:09:28.000 --> 0:09:29.360 and I said it's nice to meet you. Thank you 0:09:29.400 --> 0:09:31.560 for your service, and he said thank you for your support. 0:09:31.640 --> 0:09:33.440 And then we got into a discussion. He said that 0:09:33.440 --> 0:09:35.480 there are a number of veterans who are very uncomfortable 0:09:35.480 --> 0:09:37.720 with the phrase thank you for your service, and I 0:09:37.800 --> 0:09:39.640 just wanted to understand that a bit more because I've 0:09:39.640 --> 0:09:43.080 always felt, as a patriot so very proud to say 0:09:43.080 --> 0:09:45.680 thank you, because I genuinely am grateful for people who 0:09:45.960 --> 0:09:48.520 make the sacrifice to serve our country. Where where does 0:09:48.559 --> 0:09:49.320 that come from? 0:09:49.520 --> 0:09:52.680 Different veterans are going to feel different about that type 0:09:52.679 --> 0:09:57.160 of thank you. How that's manifested, I think is really 0:09:57.160 --> 0:09:59.680 what Ryan was probably trying to say. How is that 0:09:59.679 --> 0:10:04.120 mana infested in the actions of your organization, the actions 0:10:04.160 --> 0:10:07.280 of your community, the actions of you maybe as an individual, 0:10:07.520 --> 0:10:11.679 I think is where maybe the friction into that comes. 0:10:12.000 --> 0:10:15.440 I always say, thank you for your service is important 0:10:15.440 --> 0:10:19.000 to me, but let's see how does your organization actually 0:10:19.120 --> 0:10:21.120 do that on a day to day basis. 0:10:21.440 --> 0:10:24.240 So that's really helpful because I'm educating myself now. Ryan 0:10:24.280 --> 0:10:26.760 went to school, but many service members don't take that path. 0:10:26.920 --> 0:10:29.199 Talk to me about other transitions out of the military. 0:10:29.679 --> 0:10:32.000 Some people say I'm going to stay four or five 0:10:32.080 --> 0:10:33.640 years and I'm going to get out. I was one 0:10:33.679 --> 0:10:35.560 of those, and then some say I'm going to stay 0:10:35.559 --> 0:10:38.520 thirty years and they get out at five and so 0:10:38.840 --> 0:10:42.280 you just never know. Assignments happen every two to three years, 0:10:42.280 --> 0:10:44.960 and so you know there's a transition opportunity every two 0:10:45.040 --> 0:10:47.360 or three years. It just may not be a transition 0:10:47.400 --> 0:10:48.280 out of the military. 0:10:49.240 --> 0:10:53.400 So when you talk to veter into a transitioning from 0:10:53.480 --> 0:10:57.559 active duty into the private sector in some form, how 0:10:57.600 --> 0:11:00.640 do you tell them to think about figuring out that transition. 0:11:01.240 --> 0:11:03.640 It's all about prepping yourself. And to me, that's what 0:11:03.720 --> 0:11:07.480 this is all about. This is what helping service members 0:11:07.520 --> 0:11:10.560 transition is all about, is making sure they are prepared. 0:11:11.040 --> 0:11:14.280 If we can build relationship with service members while they're 0:11:14.280 --> 0:11:17.280 still serving, to help them tap into skills that they 0:11:17.280 --> 0:11:19.520 didn't know they had, help them develop skills that they 0:11:19.520 --> 0:11:22.440 didn't know were dormant. You're not sure about how do 0:11:22.480 --> 0:11:24.760 I value at You're not sure what you bring to 0:11:24.800 --> 0:11:26.800 the table, and we're going to point you to some 0:11:26.920 --> 0:11:29.480 resources that can help you think through that. Do you 0:11:29.520 --> 0:11:30.839 want to go to school? If you want to go 0:11:30.880 --> 0:11:34.240 to school, now, let us help you. Warrior Scholar Project 0:11:34.280 --> 0:11:36.880 is one of those organizations that can help you as 0:11:36.920 --> 0:11:40.880 a transition service member into college. How do you become successful. 0:11:41.200 --> 0:11:45.160 How do you build the right relationships network You may 0:11:45.160 --> 0:11:47.839 be working because you actually have a family now that 0:11:47.880 --> 0:11:50.600 you took out of the military with you. Let's let 0:11:50.720 --> 0:11:52.360 us help you think through how do you do all 0:11:52.400 --> 0:11:53.000 of those things. 0:11:54.040 --> 0:11:56.920 Back to Ryan, he got his degree in two years, 0:11:57.080 --> 0:11:58.960 which is not something he would advise people to do, 0:11:59.040 --> 0:12:01.560 by the way, but at the time he just didn't 0:12:01.559 --> 0:12:04.200 know better. It was just one of a few challenges 0:12:04.240 --> 0:12:07.120 he never anticipated about returning to civilian life as a 0:12:07.160 --> 0:12:07.880 college student. 0:12:08.960 --> 0:12:12.160 One of the big challenges is, particularly when you're junior enlisted, 0:12:12.240 --> 0:12:14.840 the question of why is not acceptable. Like if you 0:12:14.880 --> 0:12:17.080 were to take it to the extreme example of a 0:12:17.080 --> 0:12:19.920 boot camp of a drones Starctter says, you know, do 0:12:20.080 --> 0:12:22.079 fifty push ups and you say. 0:12:22.000 --> 0:12:24.320 Why, it's not going to go over well right. 0:12:24.480 --> 0:12:26.840 In the college environment, if you don't ask why, then 0:12:26.840 --> 0:12:28.640 you're missing a huge part of it. If you don't 0:12:28.679 --> 0:12:31.760 understand a concept, really understanding why going to office hours 0:12:31.800 --> 0:12:32.320 doing those things. 0:12:32.360 --> 0:12:33.199 So there's a big. 0:12:33.120 --> 0:12:35.520 Challenge there in terms of the difference of community and 0:12:35.559 --> 0:12:37.320 in terms of what the culture expects of you in 0:12:37.360 --> 0:12:40.200 one environment versus another. You can short circuit that if 0:12:40.240 --> 0:12:42.920 you really directly ask the question of what's your response 0:12:42.960 --> 0:12:45.440 the first time that somebody asks you if you've killed anybody? 0:12:45.600 --> 0:12:47.120 Right? Like, that's a very stark question. 0:12:47.360 --> 0:12:49.160 But you should think about your answer to that question 0:12:49.400 --> 0:12:52.200 before somebody asks it. It's a crazy thing to ask somebody, 0:12:52.240 --> 0:12:53.960 it is, but it happens. How do you have these 0:12:53.960 --> 0:12:55.840 sorts of discussions, How do you join student groups? How 0:12:55.840 --> 0:12:57.960 do you go to these meetings? How do you embrace 0:12:58.280 --> 0:13:00.440 everything that this college campus and this college unity has 0:13:00.440 --> 0:13:03.360 to offer. But I needed some fellow veterans to walk 0:13:03.400 --> 0:13:03.840 me through that. 0:13:09.960 --> 0:13:12.240 Ryan's identity as a veteran stayed with him as a 0:13:12.240 --> 0:13:15.199 student and then as he transitioned into the workforce. 0:13:16.440 --> 0:13:19.040 So I wanted to continue to serve. So I actually 0:13:19.040 --> 0:13:20.800 taught with Teach for America for a couple of years 0:13:20.880 --> 0:13:23.400 in Detroit. My taught high school hardest job I've ever 0:13:23.400 --> 0:13:25.800 had by some margin. I was not cut out for 0:13:25.840 --> 0:13:27.520 that work. I committed to doing two years and there 0:13:27.559 --> 0:13:29.240 was no chance that I was going to quit. But 0:13:29.280 --> 0:13:31.560 it was not the best application of my skill set. 0:13:31.600 --> 0:13:34.280 So I went to law school. And around that time 0:13:34.320 --> 0:13:36.680 that I was going from finishing up my teaching requirement 0:13:36.720 --> 0:13:39.199 to go to law school, I've heard about Warrior Scholar Project. 0:13:40.280 --> 0:13:43.360 We've heard this name, the Warrior Scholar Project a few 0:13:43.400 --> 0:13:46.680 times now, but let's talk about what it is. The 0:13:46.720 --> 0:13:49.800 Warrior Scholar Project is a national nonprofit five oh one 0:13:49.920 --> 0:13:53.360 c three that equips enlisted veterans to succeed in higher 0:13:53.440 --> 0:13:57.320 education classrooms and beyond. It was founded in twenty twelve 0:13:57.320 --> 0:14:00.400 by Christopher Howell. Howell wanted to go to school when 0:14:00.400 --> 0:14:02.439 he got out of the military, but he wasn't sure 0:14:02.480 --> 0:14:05.600 he'd be able to To help him, Howell's brother designed 0:14:05.640 --> 0:14:08.800 a crash course curriculum in student life that prepared Howell 0:14:08.800 --> 0:14:12.360 to apply for university programs. Christopher went on to study 0:14:12.400 --> 0:14:15.160 at Yale and that crash course went on to become 0:14:15.200 --> 0:14:18.640 the Warrior Scholar Project's curriculum. He started this program to 0:14:18.679 --> 0:14:22.160 help service members with two friends also students, and that's 0:14:22.200 --> 0:14:24.240 the program Ryan came across while he was at the 0:14:24.320 --> 0:14:27.200 University of Michigan. This is something I want to underscore 0:14:27.240 --> 0:14:30.200 about this episode. Unlike the other folks we've spoken to 0:14:30.280 --> 0:14:33.240 here on the Unshakables, Ryan was not the singular founder 0:14:33.280 --> 0:14:35.720 of the Warrior Scholar Project, but he did found the 0:14:35.720 --> 0:14:38.960 first chapter. Outside of its original incarnation at Yale. 0:14:40.240 --> 0:14:41.880 The first branch that they allowed us to really be 0:14:41.920 --> 0:14:44.720 able to franchise what they were doing at Yale. That 0:14:44.880 --> 0:14:46.920 was a very easy decision for me to be able 0:14:47.000 --> 0:14:49.280 to do that because they were doing something at Yale 0:14:49.520 --> 0:14:52.200 in this Warrior Scholar Project classroom that was unlike any 0:14:52.240 --> 0:14:55.800 other transition program, any other classroom environment that I had 0:14:55.800 --> 0:14:56.200 been a part of. 0:14:56.240 --> 0:14:57.640 It was this like intoxicating thing. 0:14:58.760 --> 0:15:02.160 The Warrior Scholar curricul KALEM creates a highly structured environment 0:15:02.200 --> 0:15:04.880 where enlisted service members feel confident to prepare them for 0:15:04.920 --> 0:15:05.880 academic life. 0:15:06.960 --> 0:15:09.600 It is primarily a series of academic boot camps where 0:15:09.600 --> 0:15:11.880 you are taking enlisted service members who want to be 0:15:11.880 --> 0:15:14.880 able to pursue their undergraduate studies, and we put them 0:15:15.000 --> 0:15:20.560 in a safe, but ungraded, unaccredited environment that is really demanding. 0:15:20.600 --> 0:15:21.840 We mean it when we call it a boot camp. 0:15:21.880 --> 0:15:23.960 It's about seventy five hours of work per week, and 0:15:24.000 --> 0:15:26.600 they are on these college campuses experiencing what it's like 0:15:26.880 --> 0:15:31.480 to succeed at Columbia, at University of Chicago, at Yale, 0:15:31.560 --> 0:15:34.320 at University of Michigan, at schools like this, and they 0:15:34.320 --> 0:15:36.600 come out the other end of that ready to go 0:15:36.640 --> 0:15:37.520 wherever they come out. 0:15:37.440 --> 0:15:39.040 Of that with do this while they're already in school 0:15:39.120 --> 0:15:40.200 or in prep to go to school. 0:15:40.240 --> 0:15:42.920 It's a mix. They cannot yet have a bachelor's degree. 0:15:43.000 --> 0:15:44.800 For most of them, they're saying either I want to 0:15:44.800 --> 0:15:46.520 make a change. I'm currently pursuing my studies and I 0:15:46.520 --> 0:15:48.240 want to make a change, or they're people that are 0:15:48.240 --> 0:15:49.920 just saying, Hey, I'm about to get out of the military. 0:15:50.160 --> 0:15:52.080 I want to pursue my undergraduate studies. How do I 0:15:52.120 --> 0:15:54.320 do this? So it's very much about confidence. It's about 0:15:54.320 --> 0:15:56.920 saying no, you actually do have what it takes that Yale, 0:15:57.080 --> 0:16:00.480 there was this legendary professor Charles Hill. They're reading Alexis 0:16:00.480 --> 0:16:02.720 to Tookeville's Democracy in America and at the time there 0:16:02.760 --> 0:16:05.360 were twelve veterans that were in the classroom, tatted at 0:16:05.400 --> 0:16:08.320 vets and they're going toe to toe with this professor 0:16:08.520 --> 0:16:11.080 on tokfille. It's a quality of conditions argument and they're engaging. 0:16:11.120 --> 0:16:13.840 They've all clearly done the reading. It's just like what again, 0:16:13.880 --> 0:16:14.640 Like what universe? 0:16:14.720 --> 0:16:15.200 What is this? 0:16:15.440 --> 0:16:17.240 I asked afterwards, is this just like what classes are 0:16:17.240 --> 0:16:19.760 like at Yale? And the press was like, no, this 0:16:19.440 --> 0:16:22.000 is this is not your average class. There's something going 0:16:22.040 --> 0:16:25.600 on here, and it was really about veterans respond really 0:16:25.640 --> 0:16:27.000 well when you throw it on the gauntlet and you 0:16:27.080 --> 0:16:28.120 challenge them. 0:16:28.880 --> 0:16:32.160 Ryan loved working with WSP. He finished his own studies 0:16:32.160 --> 0:16:34.640 at the University of Michigan and went on to law 0:16:34.640 --> 0:16:37.520 school at the University of Virginia. I want to take 0:16:37.560 --> 0:16:39.440 a moment here. This is someone who didn't get into 0:16:39.480 --> 0:16:41.440 college the first time he applied, and now he's going 0:16:41.480 --> 0:16:43.120 to one of the best law schools in the country. 0:16:43.440 --> 0:16:44.480 Anything is possible. 0:16:48.120 --> 0:16:50.360 For five years, that was my part time involvement, was 0:16:50.360 --> 0:16:53.320 going back every summer and doing this program. 0:16:54.120 --> 0:16:57.440 While Ryan was part time, the program wanted him full time. 0:16:58.480 --> 0:17:00.120 Right before law school, I had this would go I'm 0:17:00.120 --> 0:17:01.640 get to my second program the second time I had 0:17:01.720 --> 0:17:04.639 run it, they offered me the position to come on 0:17:04.680 --> 0:17:07.159 board and to become the executive director. The founder was 0:17:07.440 --> 0:17:09.000 leaving and they wanted to be able to grow it. 0:17:09.359 --> 0:17:11.680 And even though I felt so strongly about this thing, 0:17:11.960 --> 0:17:14.879