Veteran and student parent Nicholas Lengyel speaks about the importance of the services of the Center for Health and Wellness Innovation during the Eastman Hall Ribbon Cutting.
Good afternoon everyone in attendance to celebrate the opening of Eastman Hall, and I also want to give a special thank you to my daughter Alyssa, who is right behind me joining us today.
My name is Nicholas Lengyel and I’m attending the School of Graduate Studies here at SCSU with the goal of attaining my master’s in Public Administration.
Besides being a student I’m a father of four, a husband and a retiree of the United States Army with time served in both Iraq and Afghanistan combat operations. In 2005 I was deployed to Iraq with the third cos com and in 2008 I went to Afghanistan with the third brigade first infantry division with the Pakistan border.
Leaving the military is not an easy transition, we are given a three-day training and released back to the civilian world. If it were not for making the decision to attend school and use my G.I. benefits I would not have almost likely have succeeded in this life as I was already floundering and not talking care of the physical and mental injuries that I received in combat. Today seven years after my retirement, I have the honor to be a peer mentor at the Veterans Resource Center here on campus and utilize the knowledge I’ve gained and help other veterans through the transition from one lifestyle to another that is completely unknown to them.
Many people believe the myth that veterans can access healthcare at the veterans administration. In reality a number of veterans are excluded from accessing healthcare at the VA be it their discharge type, lack of service connected injuries or their service connected disability rating is simply too low.
I am proud that in this community we have services at Eastman Hall and that our school is willing to help combat the issues that many veterans face when they return home to a nation that at times seems like they would much rather forget us than help us. Thankfully Eastman Hall has always been part of the veteran resource community through the partnerships on campus and in 2006 when the VRC was established here at SCSU many of those that were on the advisory board then are on the advisory board for this project and they have given us our beautiful Eastman Hall.
The veteran community is a unique community with unique issues. Many veterans consume illicit drugs and alcohol to self-medicate the physical and mental injuries sustained in war. Our veterans battle the most severe cases of PTSD every day. The Veteran Resource Center has numerous partnerships with the services offered here at Eastman Hall such as the Recovery Resource Center, Medical facilities, counseling services to ensure that our veterans are at their peak ability, so that one day they can walk across the stage and receive their degrees and become Huskies alumni.
