For student veterans at the University, the transition to college life is different from what many freshmen or transfer students experience.

Coming out of active duty in the military and into a university setting involves a whole different set of unknowns — including being older than other students and coping with feelings of isolation.

LSA junior John Farrow, an Air Force veteran, said the age difference between him and other students made it difficult to relate to people in his graduating class.

“I’m 26 right now, and being in a class with 18- and 19-year-olds is kind of a hard transition, especially with my background or any veteran’s because you don’t really relate to the students,” Farrow said.

LSA senior Douglas Prough decided to join the National Guard after high school in order to pay for college. His service took him to Germany and the Republic of Kosovo where he worked with flight operations and air traffic control.

Upon Prough’s arrival at the University in 2006, which he called “a huge transition,” available services to veterans were almost nonexistent. Prough added that with the lacking veteran support systems it was difficult to meet people.

But the University has been making strides to encourage student veterans to feel more comfortable on campus by providing them with more coping services than in previous years.

When LSA senior Derek Blumke, an Air Force veteran, transferred to the University in 2007, he found that services for veterans were basically nonexistent. In the spring of that year, Blumke took the initiative to form the Student Veterans Association — a group that would help University student veterans become accustomed to college life.

During the same time, Blumke was involved in founding Student Veterans of America — a group that now has 180 chapters across the country at many college campuses.

Blumke said the issues student veterans face range from feeling isolated to receiving questions from other students that can make veterans feel uneasy. He added that the main goal of the Student Veterans Association is to encourage veterans to go to college and be successful.

Since the organization’s inception, Blumke has flown back and forth to Washington, D.C. in a tireless effort to lobby on behalf of student veterans. He has also been working on a project concerning mental health and suicide prevention for veterans.

According to Blumke, the number of veteran suicides is at the highest it has been in the last 20 years.

With Blumke and other student veterans pushing for reforms, the University is making an effort to implement more programs for veterans. Last fall, the Office of New Student Programs created the Student Veterans Assistance Program to provide more services for student veterans and those currently involved in the military, like mentoring programs, an orientation program designed specifically for veterans and mental health programs.

Philip Larson, head of the Student Veterans Assistance Program, wrote in an e-mail interview that the program exists to support veterans and active service members.

“We understand that former and current military service members have unique needs and qualities that they bring to the University,” Larson wrote. “These qualities include maturity, leadership skills, determination, commitment and a deeper understanding of the world.”

Blumke said he believes the resource office will help veterans transition to college life — including its 65 current veterans — and will help the University recruit other veterans.