Stockton University Military and Veteran Services

Annual Veterans Day Ceremony Full of Gratitude, Honor Annual program included Col. Yvonne Mays as guest speaker

Stockton Receives High Marks for Veterans in Military Times Rankings Stockton University No. 2 in New Jersey and No. 10 in the Mid-Atlantic

https://stockton.edu/news/2023/community-vet-resource-fair-dynamic-opportunities.html

2nd Annual Community & Vets Fair is Dynamic, Full of Opportunities Vendors ranging from the VA to mental health and physical therapy services filled Campus Center Event Room

When you’re done talking to your preceptor, come join us at the VA community event today!

The VA has shared free meals, discounts and great deals for Veterans Day. Check them out here:

2023 Veterans Day retail discounts, free meals and other offers - VA News Here is our annual Veterans Day discounts list. It will continue to be updated as we learn of more nationally available Veterans Day discounts and meals.

Stockton Coast Day | Stockton University Join us at Stockton University’s Atlantic City campus for a day of fun & learning about the beach, plus the land and ocean on either side of it (The Coast)!

The newest minion, quiet in the beginning, but has started to ease into our little tight knit group, the last but not the least, Tianna Santiago!

Tianna served in the US Navy as an active duty service member for five years. After her military career, she enrolled to .

She is a senior, pursuing a degree in Political Science and a concentration in Pre-Law. Tianna hopes to attend law school in Fall 2024 at Rutgers University. She hopes to be a judge someday! Go show people how it’s done! ✊🏽

Fun Facts:
🛳️ loves Rottweilers
🛳️ enjoys kickboxing/boxing
🛳️ been to 9 different countries

Favorite Office Memory:
“Getting accepted into the group chat!”

Hooyah!

Hello, my name is Roniña, I am the Public Relations Officer for the military-affiliated club at Stockton, a student worker for the Military and Veteran Success Center and one of the advocates for our office during the Day of Giving and Gratitude on October 4-5, 2023. The more I share, the more clicks we earn. There is no limit to how often or much I can share. The highest number of clicks to the Osprey Give platform will receive bonus dollars to give to our office and our military-affiliated club. You can help our office guide the Military-Affiliated students towards success. We need people clicking the link to spread the word as much as possible. If you can donate something, then all the money we will receive will go towards the students in our community. Thank you in advance!


Stockton Pop-Up Pub
October 4, 5-7 p.m.
Campus Center Coffeehouse

Ospreys On Tap
October 7, 12-4 p.m.
Stockton University, Academic Quad

University Weekend
October 5-8
Stockton University, Main Campus

All these events are posted on this link: https://www.stockton.edu/development-foundation/events/index.html

Register and RSVP to participate in these events!

This is the link you need to click to generate as much click as we need: https://give.stockton.edu/ospreys-give-2023/?a=7051251

Ospreys Give 2023 Check out Ospreys Give 2023!

This might answer some of your questions about this looming government shutdown! A detailed email was sent out to current students about this situation, so check that out! This is just an FYI!

Job opening in veterans education services at Ocean County College:

Job Opportunities | Ocean County College Jobs Apply now by clicking on the job title you are interested in and clicking on the "Apply" link! Click here for Application Support.

Another office minion and in charge of popcorn making/eating, Roniña “Tía Niña” Borja, at your service!

She was a data systems administrator and after she separated as a sergeant in the US Marine Corps in 2020, she came back home to .

Roniña was a 2015 EOF student and a student worker for Office of Alumni and Development during her first year at Stockton before the military. She is continuing to be involved on campus, serving as a Resident Assistant for Residential Life, an Instructional Assistant for EOF Summer Academy, the Social Media Manager for the Stockton Student Veterans Organization (soon will be renamed) and a member of Math club and Stockton Women in Math (SWIM). She was the ‘22-‘23 Fundraising Chair for Pilipino American Students Association of Stockton (PASAS) and the coxswain for Men’s Rowing.

She is a senior by credits, majoring in Mathematics with concentration in Education. She is also minoring in Spanish and Childhood Studies. A future teacher or even a professor someday!

Fun Facts:
🤙🏽 loves watching the sunset 🌅
🤙🏽 enjoys cooking
🤙🏽 favorite color is green 🏞️ 💵

Favorite Office Memory:
“Observing the office banters that cause a nonstop laughters which brings me back to when my coworkers did the same thing while doing SL3 inventory or during our downtime.”

The next one need not an introduction, it is Luke Lallo!

He served in the US Army National Guard and deployed to defend the Capitol on January 6th.

Luke is the heart of the Office of Military and Veteran Success Center at . The first one to give the visitors the proper greeting of the day and usually the first one to answers phone calls!

When he is not at home, at school or at work, he assists in coaching the Stockton Women’s Volleyball team. He is currently a Junior and majoring in Art. The ultimate dream is to work in animation.

Fun Facts:
👨🏼‍🎨 favorite color is purple
👨🏼‍🎨 went to culinary school as a child and aspire to go to culinary school in the future
👨🏼‍🎨 play volleyball and competitive swimming

Favorite Office Memory:
“Favorite office memory is having Mike call me into his office last semester when I was having a tough time, he sat me down and talked to me despite having other things to do. He truly cared about me and helped me get the help I needed.”

If you ever catch a glimpse of a shadowy figure darting through the Office of Military and Veteran Success Center, wearing a mischievous grin, that's our very own Angelo Reyes.

He served in US Marine Corps, did two combat tours in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. 🫡

He is driven by an insatiable thirst for knowledge, Angelo continues to embark on a never-ending quest for higher education (literally). He chose to do just that.

He thrives on adrenaline and enjoys the wild side of life. Embrace the enigma of this secretive, mysterious, seeker of thrills, and undeniably adventurous soul!

Fun Facts:
In order to preserve his mysterious nature, Angelo opted against divulging personal details about himself.

Favorite Office Memory:
“Any event that involves food.”

Next up in the minions list is
Jess Ruggles, our monthly drawing prompt participant!

She served as an active duty member in the US Air Force for seven years as Security Forces aka Military Police. After separating from the military, she enrolled at as a Marine Biology major to pursue a career she’d enjoy doing. She is currently a sophomore, made the Dean’s List both semesters she has attended so far. 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽

Fun Facts:
🐚 fostered cats/kittens for 2 years for local animal shelter, adopted an 8 year old Maine C**n named Spook
🐚 plays video games, her favorites are open world RPGS and cozy games
🐚 currently a player in 3 D&D campaigns

Favorite Office Memory:
“Our office has drawing prompts where we all draw something silly on the white board. It’s fun to get creative and we all have a laugh about the crazy concoctions we come up with.”

HUA!

Leading the office minions, our very own Dungeon Master and another history buff, Karl Schute.

He served in the US Army active duty for four years. Before the military, he was a volunteer fireman for five years.

After he separated from the Army, he enrolled at as a History major with a minor in Holocaust and Genocide Studies. He is currently a senior and hopes to pursue a masters in military history.

Fun Facts:
🪖 played hockey for 15 years
🪖 loves DnD
🪖 a wealth of random historical facts

Favorite Office Memory:
“… the feeling of relief after running a successful orientation and knowing that for the most part it all went off without a hitch.”

Hooah!

We want to give a shoutout to the most help with certifying and assisting military-affiliated students to receive their financial benefits… and it goes to Jenifer Robin!

She has family who served in the military and in return now serves the military-affiliated community at Stockton.

Let’s see what she says, “I am Jenifer, your friendly and dedicated school certifying official. I do my best to ensure that your VA benefits are processed as seamlessly as possible. While I am typically at Stockon Monday through Friday from 8 am to 4 pm, I do my best to respond to urgent emails when I see them outside these hours. I firmly believe we are all part of a human family, and as such I am dedicated to the wellbeing and success of you, my family.”

Since her children are off to college to prevent brain atrophy, she decided to go back to school by enrolling in full time classes at night. Some of you might have a class with her and don’t forget to introduce yourself to her!

We asked her to tell us her Fun Facts… and this is what she answered, “fun is a tough word - not one I would use to describe myself.”

By the way, her spirit animal is Catticus, Gladiator of the cat world.

Fun Fact:
🙀 loves cheese- cheese is life!
🙀 if there is something odd that might happen it has probably happened to her - very likely to share the nutty story with you
🙀 loves to plan and throw elaborately detailed parties and gatherings

Favorite Office Memory:
“I don’t have a singular favorite office memory - there have simply been too many. I feel truly lucky to have the opportunity to work hand in hand with OMVS and this population - you bring me joy, you bring me tears, but nothing is more fulfilling.”

SheIsTheBomb.com

Presenting the second in command, our one and only Assistant Director, Ashley Jones, MSW.

She is a military dependent, her father served in NJ Air National Guard.

Ashley received her Master of Social Work in ‘20. She wouldn’t be able to speak about her academic or professional success without speaking to her roots.

She said, “Being raised in a military family instills a certain kind of determination paired with the support I gathered from the military community while I attended Stockton gave me more than what I would have ever expected. The family that I had established made me feel so welcomed and supported while I was in school at Stockton, which led me to the work that I have done for the office and the community. I have been a strong component in ensuring students after me who are military-affiliated feel supported to succeed. Since receiving my Master’s in Social Work, I try to reach beyond what has been done before to meet the students needs and the community at large with great success.”

Fun Fact:
👸🏽 an Art fan - drawing, comics etc. looking at cool new styles and awesome pieces
👸🏽 a person who is always up for swapping music/suggestions and talking about music
👸🏽 favorite candy is wild berry flavored gummy lifesavers

Favorite Office Memory:
“It’s hard to just pick one. I enjoy most getting to know the students and doing goofy things like random jam sessions when we all love the same songs.”

🎤🫳🏽

Let’s all take a moment of silence in remembrance for those who lost their lives 22 years ago. If you haven’t had the chance to take a peek of these 9/11 posters, then head to Campus Center Lounge near Dunkin’. The posters will be there for the rest of the week.

To start off the series, we have our very own, top dawg, Dr. Michael “Mike” Barany, Director of Military and Veteran Success Center.

He served in the U.S. Army as a Cavalry Scout with two deployments to Iraq, totaling 27 months.

Dr. Barany has a Doctorate in Science in Civil Security Leadership, Management, and Policy. He went from zero higher education to obtaining four degrees, including his Doctorate, in 8 years. Wow!

He worked for the National Security Researcher at Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Security Focal Point for Access Strategy in Fragile States at UN Women, and the Military and Veteran Services Coordinator at Middlesex College.

Fun Fact:
🫡 an extra, a police officer, in the movie “Dark Knight Rises”
🫡 a history buff
🫡 moved five times in past fifteen years

Favorite Office Memory:
“Highlighting military-affiliated students by photo projects we often do.”

Hooah!

Hello everyone, we hope that you all had a great first week of this semester. We are going to start the 2023-2024 MEET the STAFF series of post introducing the people who can be of assistance in (re)starting your academic career at Stockton University. Stand by...

'Reflecting Back’ – Military Memories Competition. Your Chance to Win $250!

Recall Your Military Memories to Win $250! Which song do you connect most to your time in Military service? What specific memories does this song bring back for you?