Page 4 - VEP Stories of Success

ANDRES NUNEZ
Potential
Ahead with
DEGREE IN HAND
Good afternoon,
JUSTIN JACOBSON
Thank you all for showing your support of me and the Veterans Education Program.
My name is Justin Jacobson. I served in the Marine Corps and ended my service as a Sergeant in the in- fantry. I then went to work as a structural welder. It was soon thereafter that I realized I wanted to pursue something that meant more to me, so I moved back home to Oakdale California. I started up a short-lived beef cattle business which ended abruptly. I found myself sitting in the cab of a tractor for 12- 14 hours a day, just aimlessly drifting, questioning the life decisions I had made.
A few years back, on my first deployment, I made friends with an awesome man named Steve Borrego from El Paso, Texas. Many times, we would sit together, usually on a Navy ship, and plan our lives for when we got out of the Marines. We decided that if all else failed, we could use our GI Bill to go to college. I didn’t tell him that I might not be able to do that. Privately, I knew I did not meet the criteria for admission. I didn’t even know where to begin.
So I looked to my brother, who was attending Fresno State, and with his help, I contacted the university and found the Veterans Education Program, which saved me from aimless wandering through admission rules and bureaucratic offices.
This program opened my eyes to the world of opportunity, and I chased these opportunities to where I am today. I’m a Fire Academy Instructor. I am a volunteer firefighter/EMT, and a full-time student with straight A’s. I also revamped my beef cattle business and it’s been successful for the past year and a half. And, most importantly, I’ll be here in Fresno for the rest of my Bachelor of Science degree in Animal Science.
I’ll share with you that this road was not always easy. This Veterans in Education Program, most of all, helped me transition. As veterans, we often times carry things upon our shoulders and bring people with us everywhere we go. This adds to an already stressful environment, as we don’t want to let down the people we carry with us. We have been conditioned to believe the false narrative that any failure results in catastrophic consequences.
This aspect was particularly hard for me. I lost Steve Borrego when he suffered a fatal fall in 2021. And Just 3 weeks ago, I lost another great Marine named Trenton Jennings, from Sacramento, to suicide.
Every day we lose 22 veterans. 7,000 troops died in the Post 9/11 wars while 114,000 veterans have died from suicide. That’s over 16 times the number of deaths of both Iraq and Afghanistan. This is the war being fought here at home, inside each of us.
This program gave me direction when I needed it most. I often sit and wonder, that if Steve knew when his time was up, would he have worked a little harder, loved a little deeper, and given a little more? If Trenton had found this program and been immersed in this family and given a new sense of purpose and direction; would he have gone the same route? I don’t have the answers to these questions but with the support you all give, I know one thing. You all are saving veterans lives, whether you know it or not.
To the class, remember one thing “anyone with a Why can withstand any How” I’m proud of you all. Thank you,
Justin Jacobson
BY DOUGLAS HOAGLAND
BAD GRADES AND BAD BEHAVIOR SEEMED TO PUT FRESNO STATE BEYOND THE REACH OF ANDRES NUNEZ. “WHEN I WAS IN HIGH SCHOOL, I’D THINK, ‘WOW, I’LL PROBABLY NEVER GET TO GO THERE,’ ” HE SAYS.
So at 18, Nunez joined the U.S. Army because he wanted to be a soldier, and – as he puts it – “I needed to get my life on track. The Army made me better.” The drive to improve himself continued after he served nearly four years as an infantryman. Nunez researched his options for attending college and started in the Veterans Education Program in August 2019. “It guided and helped me a lot. But I was nervous at first because I didn’t know what the experience was going to be like.”
Nunez remembers the tension that filled the room as his cohort met to begin the program. “Someone said, ‘Oh, man. It’s my first time in college,’ and I realized we were all in the same boat. I knew then I wasn’t in the wrong place, and it gave me motivation to do good in school and get my education.” The program’s Speech course, in particular, provided Nunez with needed confidence to participate in
class discussions. “I’m not the best public speaker, and that class helped me face my fear of public speaking.”
He carried that confidence into the pursuit
of a bachelor’s degree in Business with an emphasis in Accounting. “I wasn’t afraid to stand up in class or speak what was on my mind.” His mindset was to finish his degree as quickly as possible, and he accomplished it in three years by taking six or seven cours- es a semester plus attending summer school. “I always did my work and paid attention. I wanted to get back into the workforce and get going with my life,” he says.
Nunez chose to go into Accounting because it requires attention to detail – something he’s good at. He also was following the counsel of his father, who has worked in construction for more than 20 years. His two older brothers also work in that field. “My dad told me to go to school and get a white-collar job so you’re not out in the heat all day.” Nunez took that to heart because family matters a great deal to him. Family also is why he – with cum laude
honors – participated in Fresno State’s gradu- a“tion ceremony in May.
I wanted my parents to see
hat I achieved...
I knew it would make them happy. Everything I do is to make my family proud. I wanted my nephews and nieces to be at the graduation, too. I wanted them to see that anything is possible.”
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Andres with dad, Federico Nunez, at Army graduation, Ft. Berning, Georgia