![\"Kevin](\"https:\/\/uwm.edu\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/41\/2016\/09\/AM16EvansWMOutsideFinal-300x200.jpg\")
A social worker at the Center for Veterans Issues, or CVI, asked Evans what he wanted to do with his life. He told her he wanted an education so he could help people in situations similar to his. So, with CVI\u2019s help, he enrolled in Veterans Upward Bound, a federally funded educational program that teaches veterans core learning skills in preparation for college coursework.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe started doing the reading, writing and arithmetic,\u201d he says. \u201cThree areas that a lot of veterans are very slow in now. I went there and got all my stuff up to gear.\u201d<\/p>\n
He had tried college before, right out of Milwaukee\u2019s North Division High School, where he was a champion wrestler. He earned a wrestling scholarship to UW-Parkside, but he didn\u2019t maintain his grades and withdrew to enlist in the Army.<\/p>\n
This time, he was determined to see a different result, and this time, he found that he liked school. Evans stuck with Upward Bound, slowly gaining proficiencies in key areas. Soon he began to collect diplomas. He received an associate degree in human services from Milwaukee Area Technical College in 2001. Then came a bachelor\u2019s in criminal justice from Springfield College in Milwaukee.<\/p>\n
\u201cI guess I was a little older and wiser, and I really wanted to set some stakes in my life,\u201d Evans says.<\/p>\n
A few years after completing his undergraduate degree, Evans learned of 51ÁÔÆæ\u2019s master\u2019s program in social work. He realized it was the opportunity he was searching for, a path to landing a job in which he could help others in difficult situations.<\/p>\n
\u201cI wanted to change my whole life story,\u201d he says. \u201cI felt I was a menace to society and I wanted to give back.\u201d<\/p>\n
He enrolled, only to soon find himself struggling with the advanced coursework, partly because, he later discovered, he had a learning disability. Determination and personalized coping techniques had seen him through his previous degrees, but that wasn\u2019t enough in grad school. This, coupled with something of an outsider status as a veteran and nontraditional student, suggested Evans had more difficult times ahead.<\/p>\n
Jayne Holland, assistant director of community outreach at MAVRC, says those types of initial school experiences are common among former military personnel. \u201cWhen [vets] leave the military, they\u2019re leaving behind a place that\u2019s very structured,\u201d she says. \u201cThey were told what to do every day. They knew as soon as they woke up what they had to do that day. Then when they come to the college campus, it\u2019s very unstructured. You are told you\u2019re going to go to these classes, but the rest of it is up to you. So they lose some of that sense of purpose.\u201d<\/p>\n
MAVRC, colloquially called \u201cmaverick,\u201d launched at 51ÁÔÆæ in 2013 and acts as a one-stop shop for veterans seeking assistance throughout their academic careers. It briefs vets on the application process at the Military Education Benefits Office, guides them through campus life, and connects veteran students and their spouses to employment resources.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe try to help them every step of the way in every place they might need it,\u201d Holland says. MAVRC also educates 51ÁÔÆæ faculty about veterans\u2019 needs and behaviors in the classroom.<\/p>\n
51ÁÔÆæ educates more veterans than any other four-year institution in the Midwest, with more than 1,000 enrolled annually. 51ÁÔÆæ is also one of only three universities nationwide to participate in all three major veteran support programs: Upward Bound, the Pat Tillman Foundation Scholars program and the Department of Veterans Affairs VetSuccess on Campus program.<\/p>\n
The average age of veterans enrolled at 51ÁÔÆæ is 30, and 20 percent are female. The graduation rate hovers at about 90 percent. Holland says those figures probably underestimate 51ÁÔÆæ\u2019s impact because they only look at veterans using federal benefits.<\/p>\n
Although Evans was at 51ÁÔÆæ prior to MAVRC\u2019s inception, Upward Bound introduced him to resources like the 51ÁÔÆæ Writing Center and encouraged him to speak to his professors about his learning disability. Instructors accommodated him in ways that didn\u2019t leave him at a disadvantage. The adjustments allowed him to thrive.<\/p>\n
\u201cI never missed a day of school,\u201d he says. \u201cAnd I catch onto stuff fast. If you\u2019ve ever been in the military, jumping out of airplanes and helicopters, you\u2019ve got to catch on fast.\u201d<\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n
Lisa Berger, an associate professor at the Helen Bader School of Social Welfare, advised Evans and instructed him in two courses. \u201cHe was a student who was so happy just to be in school developing himself,\u201d she says. \u201cI really respect his commitment to his community of veterans and giving back. I think it makes him dedicated to what he does, and he\u2019s driven by his own personal mission.\u201d<\/p>\n
He also took point on recruiting classmates for study groups, eliminating a difficulty Holland identifies as unique to many veterans. \u201cThey\u2019re used to working as a team with a group of people in their unit and being part of that team. When they lose that support network, some of them struggle a little bit. They feel alone,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
Evans says working around younger students brought him strength. Berger figures it was mutual. \u201cHis enthusiasm is rather contagious,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n
Evans took his newly minted master\u2019s degree to a job at CVI, the same agency that ran the housing program that helped him nearly two decades ago. Working as an outreach specialist, he spends much of his time offering help to homeless vets. Some accept it. Others aren\u2019t ready.<\/p>\n
\u201cOne lady gave me a story one day,\u201d Evans says. \u201cI said, \u2018I\u2019ve got this housing for you to stay at.\u2019 She said, \u2018What did veterans used to do when we were in the service out in the field? We slept out in the woods.\u2019 She wanted to continue sleeping out in the field. But I still gave her my business card and everything else, and told her that if she ever needs our help, she knows where our organization is.\u201d<\/p>\n
Working with vets facing obstacles he once faced has allowed Evans to appreciate how far he\u2019s come over the past two decades. But the proximity to his former life also keeps him closely tethered to the idea about how short a fall it is back to that situation. \u201cEvery morning when I get up, my mind is already set,\u201d he says. \u201cI\u2019m not going back today.\u201d<\/p>\n
Because he has better plans for the day.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt makes me feel good when I go home at night knowing that I touched somebody else\u2019s life,\u201d he says. \u201cI had a gentleman a couple months ago. His wife ran up to me after church and said, \u2018I want to thank you for helping my husband. Now me, him and our daughter are back together.\u2019<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is what we do.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The long march of Kevin Evans, who uses his 51ÁÔÆæ degree to help veterans now struggling with the same issues that he once did.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2985,"featured_media":37755,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","uwm_wg_additional_authors":[]},"categories":[174],"tags":[249,250],"section":[246,247],"display_categories":[115,116],"related-coverage":[178],"uwmnews-feed":[167,347,155,157],"class_list":["post-37745","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-community-engagement","tag-student-success","section-business-world-affairs","section-politics-social-science","display_categories-top-story-secondary","display_categories-top-story-section","related-coverage-veterans","uwmnews-feed-alumni-association","uwmnews-feed-community-engagement-professions","uwmnews-feed-social-welfare-criminal-justice","uwmnews-feed-social-welfare"],"yoast_head":"\n