At 28, James Washington is a little older than the traditional freshman at Manhattan College in Riverdale. 

The Yonkers native, who is pursuing a bachelor's degree in exercise science, is one of around 100 veterans who are students at the college. He began an eight-year stint in the Army about a year after completing high school. 

What You Need To Know

  • Manhattan College has programs to help veterans succeed on campus

  • The programs assist in helping veterans make the transition to college life less stressful

  • The campus features a Veterans Success Center which offers a space for student veterans to gather
  • The Veterans at Ease Program includes an off-campus stress reduction retreat featuring meditation and yoga

"I didn't have a plan and I knew I wanted to be something, somehow, someway, and the military afforded me the opportunity to make something of myself and I don't regret taking that chance,” said Washington.

After a math class, Washington greets fellow veterans at the Veterans Success Center. It’s the headquarters for Manhattan College's programs to help student veterans make the transition to college life. 

In the last six years, the college has taken a more targeted and holistic approach to supporting veterans as their enrollment grew.

"They are already coming with a level of training and education that our traditional students don't have, but it's how do we help them get back in the classroom setting, so whether it's connecting them with tutoring, developing time management, writing skills, you know, there's a lot of things and structure that they had in the military that they don't have in civilian life,” said Tiana Sloan, director of Veterans Success Programs at the college. 

Sloan says the program is all about rebuilding that structure and making the transition less stressful. 

James Washington says the Student Veterans Organization and the Manhattan College community have been a huge help as he starts a new life outside the military. 

"I'm kind of an outspoken person. I’m kind of outgoing, so I will reach out to other students, I will speak to people, but if you are more introverted, it's more comfortable to know that you can go to a space where you are around your own people who understand, and you can talk about whatever it is that's on your mind or in your heart, and know that you are not going to get judged,” said Washington. 

Washington hopes to graduate in the next three years and attend graduate school with the goal of becoming a physical therapist. Along the way, he says he wants to as dive deep into the college experience as much as possible while he is on campus.