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b'Episode #20 features Marine Corps veteran Jimmy Guevara; but what it REALLY features is a mirror for a lot of the vets I\\u2019ve met. A mirror that shows the struggle of trying to fit in to a world\\u2014whether it\\u2019d be a professional, educational, social, or any other society that you try to slip in to without understanding that you are not the same type of person that you once were.

Jimmy shares his story (that turns into a two-part episode) about his journey into and through the Marine Corps. He shares very personal moments that, if you knew Jimmy\\u2026 these moments he shares\\u2026 really had to be pulled out over a period of time after having established a trust with him. But why I think they are important and urged him to share\\u2014is because I have a very similar story, and if I have that story\\u2026 many other people do too!

Stories like losing his grandfather who was murdered over political views, being in an abusive home, having alcoholic role models, joining ROTC because he had a feeling that he needed a stable structure. Stories like leaving the Marine Corps he loved so much, to take care of external obligations\\u2026 for him, his mom. Stories that he has about himself from being a college dropout and what seemed to employers as \\u201cstubborn\\u201d and \\u201cinsubordinate,\\u201d into an extremely relevant and trustworthy key player in the advocacy movement for the student veteran at two (going on three) colleges! But it\\u2019s not that he was stubborn or defiant, he is a Marine; A Marine that tried to assert a higher level of standard\\u2014one of quality vs. quantity\\u2014in the places he sought employment, which sometimes (as most of us have experienced) doesn\\u2019t fit well in a place that isn\\u2019t looking to let go of some of the qualities keeping them from being exceptional.


Yes I\\u2019m biased.

Jimmy is a storyteller, so my intention was to give Jimmy the platform, and let him go! Jimmy throughout this conversation talks about his troubled high school career that was primarily a gap filler of time that was a hurdle between he and the Corps; he talks about his deployments and almost being a casualty to \\u201cfriendly-fire,\\u201d and his short-yet-much-needed career in the Corps. We talk about legacy, and what it takes to rebuild oneself from the moments that seemed like failure.

As a student veteran, Jimmy found himself creating a college that he wished he had the first time around. Not knowing anything about the red tape of most programs, or even programs in general, Jimmy found himself becoming knowledgeable on all the benefits available for the veterans in college and created a team to take care of all the veterans looking for financial aid, a place to stay, study help, VA benefit enrollment, and even found himself advocating for vets to have a safe haven where vets can come and be around people who wouldn\\u2019t judge us for our personalities that don\\u2019t quite fit in other groups around campus.

Jimmy gives a theory about why vets don\\u2019t do well in school, and mentions that \\u201cthere is actual power in being a student instead of sitting in the background.\\u201d

I love this conversation because Jimmy is the epitome of \\u201cif there\\u2019s a will there\\u2019s a way\\u2026\\u201d From forging signatures to change his education programs in order to be able to go into the Marine Corps, dropping 75 lbs to become a Marine, and then realizing that just because you\\u2019ve failed once at something does not mean you\\u2019re a failure\\u2026 only that the way you tried it before, wasn\\u2019t the way that works to see success!

\\u201cI worked too hard to quit!\\u201d

Jimmy\\u2019s last note\\u2026 \\u201cThe More Veteran\\u2019s we help, the more support we\\u2019re gonna get!

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Show Notes
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Some other key points to the conversation were:

\\u2022Networking

\\u2022How we should get out of the mindset of \\u201ctransitioning\\u2026\\u201d and change the mindset to \\u201cacclimatizing\\u201d or \\u201cadapting,\\u201d (which is actually an interesting thought)

\\u2022Feeling stuck

\\u2022Finding your identity

\\u2022What it\\u2019s like being an only child in a service that becomes family

\\u2022How leadership comes from watching leadership be leaders

\\u2022Learning from your teaching mistakes to become a better instructor

\\u2022Putting on a Mask to fit in with the Marines who couldn\\u2019t wait to get out

\\u2022Taking \\u201cOne Class at a Time!\\u201d

\\u2022How to advocate for veterans\\u2026 \\u201cBring what you know!\\u201d



Most importantly we talk about Jimmy\\u2019s Call to Action! Give Back! Stand up for your vets!

Shout outs to Boogie (Alfred Wilson) and Carter'