From the dusty Middle East to Champaign’s autumn leaves and nights out on Green Street, student veterans face a unique transformation to university life. About 400 student veterans are enrolled at the University and are often so integrated into the campus that their stories remain unknown.

Elizabeth Ambros, junior in AHS, was discharged from her eight years of military service last Friday. After serving six years in the Navy and two years in Inactive Reserves, Ambros, 26, finally can aggressively pursue her lifelong dream of becoming a doctor.

Ambros planned to finish her Bachelor’s degree while in the Navy, but quickly realized that her busy days of duty and nights filled with classes left no time for sleep.

“It wasn’t like the picture the recruiters painted,” Ambros said.

Though she struggled with the fact that she might have already completed medical school if she had gone straight into college, Ambros wouldn’t change her decision to join the Navy.

“I am who I am today, and I’m pretty much a badass,” she said.

After getting deployed to Iraq to work on a medical team with Marines, Ambros came to the University with a year of credits in her back pocket and the focus of a Fleet Marine Force Corpsman. Once on campus, she was surprised to find her classmates were not always as prepared and attentive as her military peers.

“When I first got here, it was hard for me to transition because I wasn’t used to the disrespect that (students) showed the professor,” Ambros said.

She was confused as to why the freshmen and sophomores who sat next to her in class were dressed in pajamas with their attention in places other than the front of the lecture hall.

Ambros learned to adapt to the studying routine and the differences between military and campus culture despite the benefits and struggles of the transition.

Dr. Nicholas Osborne, assistant dean of students and head of Veterans Student Support Services, works one-on-one with each incoming student veteran. During these meetings, he said most veterans on campus also share the same struggles as Ambros.

“Getting back into an academic environment can be challenging, not only in self-confidence, but also skills go rusty,” Osborne said.

When high school and college are broken up by a Tour in Iraq or Afghanistan, studying at the library can feel like a foreign task.

“The toughest thing is getting the gears oiled again and getting back in the swing of studying all the time,” said John Milas, sophomore in LAS.

Milas, who is a Marine, is spending his first semester on campus and has found it quite easy to adapt to campus life. He looks forward to the day he is discharged from Inactive Duty in 2016 and is pursing a career in film.

He worked in the logistics field as a Landing Support Specialist who helped helicopters land, and spent time in the Mediterranean and Afghanistan.

Milas notices the differences between himself and his peers on Facebook, while Ambros is sometimes angered by comments and discussions surrounding the military that take place in class.

Ambros mentioned that many student veterans like herself do a very good job of blending into the general student body, though they are often a few years older than their classmates.

“Some students need to be aware that they’re not going to know when we’re sitting right next to them,” Ambros said.

She wants students to recognize that they are normal people who are trying to do the same things, like become a doctor or engineer.

“A lot of student veterans relate to me that they have struggles with relating to other students,” she said.

Osborne feels that sharing a classroom with student veterans is a valuable experience, as they have diverse backgrounds that others can learn from.

“I think it’s important for faculty and students to know that student veterans are coming here with a very diverse and rich series of life experiences,” Osborne said.

Like a large number of student veterans on campus, both Ambros and Milas found a place in the Illini Veterans organization. This active social and philanthropic RSO provides a place where veterans can relate to their peers.

“There’s a big stigma that all veterans do is get together and get drunk, but Illini Veterans group is trying to do a lot,” Milas said.

Both Ambros and Milas wonder if they would have the same drive and motivation as they do today if they had not spent time serving their country.

But more than anything, Milas said, they’re “just normal people like everybody else.”

Becky can be reached at [email protected].