MHCC Veteran center proves valuable resource for former military

Mt. Hood is a “military friendly” college, according to victorymedia.com, an organization that provides resources to veterans and military personnel.

The college’s own Veteran Services center is located in the Main Mall, three doors south of the Bookstore. The center is designed to help veterans and active military members get resources they need to succeed in their education.

The office helps vets find veterans-only classes, resources for tuition assistance, and priority for other needs, said Joshua Ray, Mt. Hood’s veteran services coordinator. “We’re also working on leading the state in (granting) credit for prior learning for veterans,” he said.

Credits are offered to reflect involvement in the military. Before, “on this campus – you (would) just get free P.E. credits,” Ray said. “Now, your military history is all looked over, and they look at what you did while you were in (active duty). You actually get credit for some of these things.

“It used to be, when (a vet would) come on campus, they were a typical student, but now, when they get priority registration, that means they’re up first – they could be one of the first to have opportunities to get into classes that they need,” Ray added.

The campus center has a library where vets and their dependents are able to check out free textbooks for the term, “as long as you guarantee to bring it back,” said Ray. “We’ve expanded that quite a bit over the past term or two.”

He said the main strength at Mt. Hood’s vets’ center is customer service. “Our core competency is always customer service… from the moment you walk in that door, we can help you with pretty much everything you need to be successful as a student, whereas, you’re not going to find that at (larger) institutions,” he said.

Ray is an Army veteran and former Mt. Hood student, himself.

“When I came out of the military, I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life,” he said. He spent five years fighting the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs for disability benefits. “I got two busted knees and a broken back… throughout that five years, I just kind of got angry at the system.”

It was that anger that encouraged Ray to find ways to help vets stuck in similar situations, he said. “I started to learn more about the VA system, I started learning about education benefits…  started learning about the healthcare system – learning about all these things – and really it just drove me (to the veteran’s services office).”

Ray started out helping other vets as a federally backed Work Study student, then moved to part-time employee, then eventually, to full-time worker.

“I just worked my way here just on the sole fact that I didn’t want to see other veterans treated the way I was (initially) treated,” he said.