Boots on the ground

UI services, support help military veterans transition to college

By Stephen Pradarelli

As a petty officer second class in the Navy, it was Adam Connell’s job to successfully board ships being used for arms smuggling, drug trafficking, and other nefarious activities in South America and the Persian Gulf.

To get from his frigate to a 200,000-ton supertanker commandeered by pirates and other bad guys took telescopic hook ladders, precision timing, and lots of nerve, especially since the ships were sometimes traveling abreast at speeds of 25 knots.

But the distance Connell had to travel from ship to ship pales in comparison to the cultural gap he’s had to bridge transitioning from almost five years of military life to campus life as a nursing student at the University of Iowa.

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