Name: Joseph Samuel Jackson III
Bio: Hello General Studies community, I am Joseph Samuel Jackson III. I am running for the position Veteran Representative. I was Hospital Corpsman in the United States Navy. Helmand province, Afghanistan, and South East Asia. This is my first semester at Columbia, but I am not new to leadership or the veteran community. At the Community College of Rhode Island, I was the President of the Student Veterans Organization. In tandem, I ran a state level campaign I have been lucky enough to attend several Student Veterans of America conferences that concentrated on enhancing student veterans experience on campus. All of this a prepared me to help and represent veterans.
My experience with veteran’s groups like the Warrior-Scholar Project has lead me to have many contacts across the country to include (Veteran’s in Global Leadership, Veterans Initiative at the Washington Center, The Mission Continues among others)
Something that was always said to me in the medical community was “You Don’t need to know everything. You just have to know where to find it” If elected I want to be the resource that can point anyone no matter the need in the right direction. I aspire to connect veterans with scholarships, fellowships, internships, and careers.
Some things I would like to work on implementing if elected are: help promote the on-campus VA program VITAL that provides mental health and vocational counseling to active duty, veterans, and their families. This program is little known and underutilized. I would also strive to make sure Student Veteran’s voice is heard on campus
The reason I am here and running for Veteran Rep is because I believe the veteran community has so much to give back to the country and the world. I want to be in a better position to ensure it is a seamless transition in and out of Columbia University.
I hope the community will let me put actions behind my word. To strive to create new contacts, to help more veterans. None of us should do this alone. Let us all move forward and continue to foster and open and welcoming atmosphere for all Students and Student veterans at Columbia University.
I hope to earn your vote, Sincerely,
Joseph Samuel Jackson III
Platform: My name is Joseph Samuel Jackson III. I was born and raised in Rhode Island. I was in the United States Navy for 6 years as a Hospital Corpsman. I had the pleasure of deploying twice with the United States Marine Crops. This is my first semester at Columbia, but I have now been a student for a little over 2 years. The veteran’s community has helped me get to where I am today. As a way of giving back I hope to be able to continue to give student veterans a voice on campus.
Name: Jenna Znak
Bio:
Hey guys!
My name is Jenna Znak. I was born and raised in the wine country of Northern California. I escaped at seventeen as I joined the U.S Navy. I was involved in back to back deployments and discharged after my final deployment ending in November of 2014 (Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Freedom’s Sentinel transition I & II, Operation Inherent Resolve, Global War on Terror-Expeditionary). I moved to the big apple to pursue my goal of getting involved in congressional public policy. My true passion consists of the study of criminal law and human rights.
Platform: Military veteran representation is important from presidential campaigns down to our university student counsel. Myself, being a U.S Navy Veteran, I understand the importance of the key factors of being a veteran student. Many don’t understand the hardships we face from assimilation, health issues, family and financial burdens as well we over all stress management and self-care. We have all served our country and proved to be capable of handling Columbia’s rigorous academics by accepting admission into this institution. My focus, if elected ,would be to enact a series of implications or improve existing resources to make them clearly known for all students.
1. Ensuring all veterans understand the benefits they are entitled and eligible for. As well as the precautions, issues one may face, and how to get the most out of their entitlement. I will work hard with Tessie to ensure all certification is done in a timely manner and help address any issues students may have with via financial aid, vocational rehabilitation counseling issues, transferring benefits from one institution to another…etc.
2. Introducing new veterans into the Columbia community by intergrading them social and academically. Mainly, matching veteran mentors with new student mentees.
3. Providing veteran students new and old with clear cut guides to obtaining the needed resources, via health and mental wellness as well as checking in on the overall well-being of new students periodically on a more personal level.
4. Providing veteran students with new opportunities and assisting them in obtaining their goals with internship opportunities, civilian professional skills training, and much more.
5. Lastly, during our time in the military physical fitness played an active role. “Exercise gives you endorphins. Endorphins make you happy. Happy people just don’t shoot their husbands, they just don’t”. I would like to organize a weekly 1 hour intensity work out class on campus open for all members of “milvets” and GS, free of charge, to help in stress reduction and community strengthening. Lead by current student veterans. This weekly PT session will build community bonding by introducing new veterans and students to one another, along with some good ole fashion stress reduction.
As Veterans Representative, I want to strengthen our Columbia GS community bond by enriching the understanding of what being a veteran student means. If elected I will put my best foot forward to ensure all veterans are welcome and aware of all that Columbia has to offer.