“Yesterday I shared a picture of myself on Facebook from 2010 when I was deployed to Iraq --- I served 7 years in the Army as an artilleryman --- and one of my classmates commented, ‘I was still in middle school then!’ Most of the 600-plus veterans attending the University of Memphis are older than the typical student, and I’m one of those. We’re trying to balance a lot of adult responsibilities and are just at a different place in our lives than, say, most 18-year-olds. I’ll be graduating in May with degrees in History and Political Science, with plans to go to law school, but meanwhile one of the ways I’m trying to help fellow student veterans is by raising funds for a library of textbooks to check out and use free of charge. Not every GI receives a stipend for books, so this can make a big difference for some of the men and women who have served this country. We started the project back in August and as soon as it ends on December 1, we’re going to look around to see where we can get the most bang for our buck. It’s important to me to be involved in something that has a direct impact on helping veterans. I try to live by the adage: ‘Leave it better than you found it.’”
Joey Scott, President of the University of Memphis Student Veterans Association
- U of M Momentum page for all projects: https://momentum.memphis.edu/
- Momentum page for Tiger Vets: https://momentum.memphis.edu/project/2967
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HgykorMK_cY