"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world." - Nelson Mandela

America, the United States, and the world, need people wielding this weapon responsibly. Climate change disasters, clean water shortages, as well as good old fashioned space exploration and scientific investigation, all need driven, cooperative, hardworking, highly skilled people to tackle them. Our enlisted veteran experience prepared us especially well for this in two ways: working with others and taking the suck.

The United States is especially short on scientists and engineers, according to the National Science Foundation, putting us behind on scientific progress. It doesn't seem that way for now because our living conditions continue to attract the brightest minds from other, more densely populated countries. But how long we can continue to do so is uncertain.

To help veterans who are considering college, we worked with Next Step Inbound to make these series:

• Personal Statements (Essays)


• Letters of Recommendation


• Resume Preparation

Nothing flashy, just some information that might be useful and is not often covered.

The Veteran Transfer Manual is a free, downloadable pdf that covers all the topics in the series, adds some details, and includes full sample essays from successful student veterans, along with notes on the essays. You are welcome to use and share this manual to the extent that is helpful for you and your peers, but please attribute anything that you share from it and do not leave comments on the document. Out of respect for the veterans who contributed to it, please do not copy any aspect of any sample essay into your own work.

For further inspiration: Watch Khan Academy's You Can Learn Anything to get a better appreciation of your own potential. Browse the 2014 remake of Carl Sagan's Cosmos to see how we, humanity, got here and where we could go. On a personal note, here is my own (briefly told) college story, a few of my notes for veterans pursuing competitive universities and my own reasons for doing anything difficult or challenging.
Then, ready or not, the world needs you. So let's begin.