For Jacob Dodderidge, an Adjunct Success Counselor at Calbright, there is no more meaningful work than helping active service members and veterans achieve their goals. Serving those who have served for us.
“I fell in love with what Calbright does for veterans and active duty service members,” he said. “My dad passed away while on active duty, so for me this is a very personal issue, it’s very meaningful work for me, and it’s an honor to help.”
Today he works with over 200 Calbright students who are veterans or active duty service members, connecting them to the education they need for the careers they want.
Transitioning From A Military To A Civilian Career
Jacob, who worked as a Personal & Professional Development Counselor for the Marine Corps at Camp Pendleton before coming to Calbright, says there’s a real need among active and retired service members for the kind of education Calbright offers for free.
“Students want this service,” he said. “Many discharged service members are trying to reinvent themselves. Trying to go from infantry or cooks to having good civilian careers, but the Marine Corps often won’t pay for industry certifications because they didn’t have unit credit. Active duty service members often want some of these same certifications, because they can use them to advance their careers in the military and get paid more.”
For many service members, higher education is unfamiliar territory. For many colleges, the issues service members struggle with are also unfamiliar. Calbright, Jacob said, can be the missing link they’re looking for.
“62% of veterans are first generation students,” he said. “So they don’t have a lot of people in their personal networks who are familiar with how colleges work. Additionally, a very large number of veterans will have acquired a disability while in the military. And if you’re one of those 67%, or you have a disability, you didn’t really have many virtual options that were designed for your needs until Calbright came along.”
Calbright is a free way for military connected students to get civilian recognition for the skills they have already developed in the military, as well as getting new skills that they want. “They have the knowledge that they need for these certifications, but no way to pay for them. Calbright can do that. We can teach them when they need it, train them when they need it, and give them industry vouchers to get the certification to prove to the civilian sector that they have the skills they used in the military.”
It’s not just getting them recognition for the skills they have, however – Calbright can also support their civilian job hunt.
“There are specialized military only career fairs that I can connect them to,” Jacob said. “Employers who are specifically trying to hire veterans with these career certifications and backgrounds. We also have workshops that we’re hosting, we have career fairs lined up, we have informational interviews with professionals and mentors that are veterans, and we’re just building a supportive community for our students.”
And of course Calbright has a very robust career services program that anyone can use – help with resumes, help with networking, help with interview prep, with LinkedIn profiles, “all of that’s available too.”
An Education That Supports Your Life, A College That Supports Your Basic Needs
Often, however, Jacob’s work at Calbright isn’t just about getting military connected students the education they need, but the support they need to meet their basic needs in civilian life.
“We also help them with their military’ benefits,” he said. “Many military connected students are unaware of all the programs they qualify for, and so I’m helping my students get access to basic needs, financial needs, housing needs, food needs, mental health needs, through services that are specific to this student population,” he said. “There are also benefits that can help their spouses, their children. Often we can help students who are veterans find outside resources to pay their living expenses while they succeed in their education with us. That way they don’t have to work two or three jobs to survive, and can focus on their programs here.”
Students who want to take their education further can also benefit.
“I just had a student who obtained cybersecurity industry certification through us who enrolled as a cybersecurity major at another college to continue their education, and because of their work at Calbright, the college is waiving 10 of the 28 units for the degree,” Jacob said. “They’re prepared for a career, and getting their education that much faster.”
Doing this work, Jacob says, is a way of facilitating Calbright’s mission to reinvent higher education to make it work for more people. “It’s meeting the students where they are, trying to be holistic and comprehensive with them and their needs from a personal, academic, and career perspective,” he said. “Calbright is a vessel for people in my community to find employment and reinvent themselves.”
