thedrifter
05-29-09, 05:14 AM
By aiding veterans, she helps herself
Ex-Marine lauded for work at UMass
By Peter Schworm, Globe Staff | May 29, 2009
For more than two years after leaving the Marine Corps, Dominique Powell felt alone and adrift without the regimen of military life. Mired in a deep depression, she told no one, hoping she could grit her way through it like another full-gear training run.
Dutifully, she excelled in her classes at the University of Massachusetts at Boston while working full time and serving in the Air Force Reserve. But it wasn't until she began working at the university's Student Veterans Center that she found comfort, and her calling. Helping veterans with their troubles, she said, helped her confront her own.
"It helped me identify what was wrong with me," said Powell, a 27-year-old Dorchester native who wears her hair in braids and has an unassuming demeanor. "And it helped give me a purpose. That had been missing."
Powell, who served stateside in the Marine Corps from 2000 to 2004, will address graduates at today's commencement ceremony as she receives the John F. Kennedy Award for Academic Excellence, UMass-Boston's top student prize.
Powell, wearing a Marine Corps hooded sweat shirt as she went through yesterday's graduation rehearsal, said working with returning veterans, both as a tutor and a peer adviser, has been the most rewarding aspect of her college years. On a given day, she would help veterans claim GI Bill benefits, tutor them in math and science, and organize campus conferences on veterans' issues.
Above all, she was a familiar face to turn to for veterans having a rough day, and her struggles in adapting to civilian life often gave her insight into theirs.
"We just started sharing experiences," she said. "I just tried to let them know we were here and that we wanted to help."
Although some 700 veterans are enrolled at UMass-Boston, many were reluctant to ask for help, even with routine administrative snarls like credits and financial aid. But Powell's outreach persuaded some students to set their reservations aside.
"She's highly disciplined and focused, and was a terrific fit," said Barry Brodsky, director of Veterans Upward Bound at UMass-Boston, where Powell tutored. "She has shown an amazing commitment."
She graduated from Boston Latin as president of the National Honor Society and was admitted to every college she applied to. She wanted to attend the College of the Holy Cross, but decided on the military so she would not burden her parents financially. She chose the Marines, she said, because it had the reputation of being the most demanding.
Shortly after enlisting, however, Powell regretted her decision. A shy, sheltered teenager when she arrived at Parris Island, S.C., for boot camp, she initially buckled under the intense pressure of military life. In time she adjusted, but never completely accepted a culture she found dehumanizing, particularly as a woman.
"It got to be too much," she said. "I couldn't stay in a minute longer. The lifestyle just wasn't for me."
Yet once she fulfilled her four-year service obligation and left the Marines, Powell said, she missed the structure and security. She remains deeply conflicted about her service. The military helped her mature and gave her newfound confidence and mental toughness, she said. Serving her country, she said, was a source of great pride.
But her time in the military also "broke her down" and left her with little direction.
Powell said she feels guilty about her psychological struggles, which she feels are petty compared with those of combat veterans. Though relieved to have left the military before being sent overseas, she grapples with emotions from her former unit's deployment, and grimly recalls reading the news that a friend from her platoon had been killed by a suicide bomber in Iraq.
Most nagging is the sense that her time in the military, as a radio operator at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, has held her back, emotionally and professionally. When she got back she often didn't answer to her first name, called her parents sir and ma'am, and had to relearn how to make her own decisions.
"It was hard to take the lead in my own life," she said. "In a way, I'm still sort of adjusting."
A criminal justice major, Powell said she hopes to work for a nonprofit that helps veterans or potentially work for the FBI or CIA. Either way, she wants to get there quickly. "I feel like I'm behind," she said. "I still have that anxiety."
Peter Schworm can be reached at schworm@globe.com.
Ellie
Ex-Marine lauded for work at UMass
By Peter Schworm, Globe Staff | May 29, 2009
For more than two years after leaving the Marine Corps, Dominique Powell felt alone and adrift without the regimen of military life. Mired in a deep depression, she told no one, hoping she could grit her way through it like another full-gear training run.
Dutifully, she excelled in her classes at the University of Massachusetts at Boston while working full time and serving in the Air Force Reserve. But it wasn't until she began working at the university's Student Veterans Center that she found comfort, and her calling. Helping veterans with their troubles, she said, helped her confront her own.
"It helped me identify what was wrong with me," said Powell, a 27-year-old Dorchester native who wears her hair in braids and has an unassuming demeanor. "And it helped give me a purpose. That had been missing."
Powell, who served stateside in the Marine Corps from 2000 to 2004, will address graduates at today's commencement ceremony as she receives the John F. Kennedy Award for Academic Excellence, UMass-Boston's top student prize.
Powell, wearing a Marine Corps hooded sweat shirt as she went through yesterday's graduation rehearsal, said working with returning veterans, both as a tutor and a peer adviser, has been the most rewarding aspect of her college years. On a given day, she would help veterans claim GI Bill benefits, tutor them in math and science, and organize campus conferences on veterans' issues.
Above all, she was a familiar face to turn to for veterans having a rough day, and her struggles in adapting to civilian life often gave her insight into theirs.
"We just started sharing experiences," she said. "I just tried to let them know we were here and that we wanted to help."
Although some 700 veterans are enrolled at UMass-Boston, many were reluctant to ask for help, even with routine administrative snarls like credits and financial aid. But Powell's outreach persuaded some students to set their reservations aside.
"She's highly disciplined and focused, and was a terrific fit," said Barry Brodsky, director of Veterans Upward Bound at UMass-Boston, where Powell tutored. "She has shown an amazing commitment."
She graduated from Boston Latin as president of the National Honor Society and was admitted to every college she applied to. She wanted to attend the College of the Holy Cross, but decided on the military so she would not burden her parents financially. She chose the Marines, she said, because it had the reputation of being the most demanding.
Shortly after enlisting, however, Powell regretted her decision. A shy, sheltered teenager when she arrived at Parris Island, S.C., for boot camp, she initially buckled under the intense pressure of military life. In time she adjusted, but never completely accepted a culture she found dehumanizing, particularly as a woman.
"It got to be too much," she said. "I couldn't stay in a minute longer. The lifestyle just wasn't for me."
Yet once she fulfilled her four-year service obligation and left the Marines, Powell said, she missed the structure and security. She remains deeply conflicted about her service. The military helped her mature and gave her newfound confidence and mental toughness, she said. Serving her country, she said, was a source of great pride.
But her time in the military also "broke her down" and left her with little direction.
Powell said she feels guilty about her psychological struggles, which she feels are petty compared with those of combat veterans. Though relieved to have left the military before being sent overseas, she grapples with emotions from her former unit's deployment, and grimly recalls reading the news that a friend from her platoon had been killed by a suicide bomber in Iraq.
Most nagging is the sense that her time in the military, as a radio operator at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina, has held her back, emotionally and professionally. When she got back she often didn't answer to her first name, called her parents sir and ma'am, and had to relearn how to make her own decisions.
"It was hard to take the lead in my own life," she said. "In a way, I'm still sort of adjusting."
A criminal justice major, Powell said she hopes to work for a nonprofit that helps veterans or potentially work for the FBI or CIA. Either way, she wants to get there quickly. "I feel like I'm behind," she said. "I still have that anxiety."
Peter Schworm can be reached at schworm@globe.com.
Ellie