After America has just finished celebrating and honoring those who have fought and died while serving, LSU is taking a closer look into life as an LSU veteran.
 

What many don’t know is that LSU used to be a military training post dating as far back as the institutions’ establishment in 1860 and after looking around, LSU’s campus is one that takes extreme pride in its connection to the military and the heavy burdens that come with it. 
 

From the Memorial Oak Grove and Memorial Tower honoring the soldiers killed in World War 1, to the ROTC program being the first and oldest student organization on campus, it’s evident that LSU resembles historic symbols all around.
 

LSU is a university that recognizes the sacrifices men and women have dedicated, and through that, the school offers many opportunities for veteran students such as the G.I. bill, financial aid, military science and the office of veterans affairs.
 

The program director of the William A. Brookshire Military and Veterans Student Center, Grant Schadeberg, said that most veterans tend to use either a local or federal G.I. bill, something that will help veterans in educational assistance including their dependents.
 

“Myself and my leadership are dedicated to giving them the best experience possible,” Schadeberg said. “Most veterans are using some form of local or federal GI Bill, and in addition to that we have a resource center dedicated to the military connected community.”
 

LSU’s William A. Brookshire Military and Veterans Student Center is located on Veterans Drive through LSU’s campus and the center is well known to those it serves. 
 

Much like many tiger fans during football season, the student veterans center hosts consecutive sponsored tailgates for every home game including veteran-led student organizations that plan socal activities.
 

“We have study areas, a game room with a ping pong table and it is just a place where veterans can hang out together,” Schadeberg said. “Every year I take a group of students to the largest conference for student veterans and most of my students leave with job offers.”
 

Construction management graduate Nicholas Beverage served for four years from May of 2016 to May of 2020, finishing his military career as a senior airman. 
 

“I was stationed here in LA so that’s what familiarized me with LSU and what brought me down here,” Beverage said. “Me and my friends would come down here on the weekend to go to a football game and every time I came down here I’ve always had a blast, I knew this is where I wanted to go to school after.” 
 

Beverage said that the military has made him more disciplined and has helped give him a new found perspective on his studies.
 

“I’m usually up early and I wake up with a purpose from having the day planned out because when I first went to college, I would stress out over a test or paper where now I don’t find myself stressing out over those things anymore,” Beverage said. “When you go from serving and owning the responsibility you bear, a test or a paper don’t seem so big.”
 

Beverage also expressed that he felt intimidated coming into school at an older age but that eventually the diversity LSU presents to it’s students helped him adapt.
 

“I’m older so I was a little scared when I came back to school like I’m going to be that old weird guy in class but I don’t really get that sense here since there’s so many different kinds of people in class.” 
 

LSU used to be sort of like a military college and you kind of see that when you walk through the quad as well as the parade grounds, so having air force ROTC and army ROTC on campus also gives you a sense of belonging as well with LSU being such a broad and diverse university, it’s very easy to fit in,” Beverage said.
 

Beverage, like many other veterans, utilize the student veterans center since it provides a specific safe space for people who share things in common.
 

“The student veterans center is awesome, just being able to go in there and see people that you’re familiar with, even if you don’t really know them too well, you have a sense of community,” Beverage said.
 

Disaster science and management senior Daniel Thibodeaux served four years before attending LSU in 2016 and said that he didn’t have much direction in life but that LSU has helped find his way.
 

“The biggest resource I use most commonly is probably the veterans center, on days where it’s too busy in the union,” Thibodeaux said.  “I’ll find a good spot and just use the facility, the plus of it being that I see other people who are in the military or were in the military.” 
 

Thibodeaux said that it’s easy to get along with people there since everyone shares a common background experience. 
 

“I don’t go there everyday I’m on campus but I go there pretty often,” Thibodeaux said. “Mostly like I said, it’s out of the hustle when I need to concentrate.”
 

Oftentimes Thibodeaux gives people advice to help with the adjustment for veterans in similar positions as him.
 

“There were a couple times when some people ask me how to fit in class  so some advice can help make the transition a little bit better,” Thibodeaux said.
 

LSU may be known for many things, but taking care of those who have taken care of us can definitely be added to the list.