A new campus program is helping America's Most Valuable Players return to home base and to the classroom.
From the battlefield to the classroom, says MVP program coordinator Michael Flores, "You're used to a certain environment for a year or 18 months, as long as your deployment is and then you come back and you don't have that structure and you're faced with certain challenges, whether they're physical challenges, whether they're mental challenges or just being removed from school for 10 years like I was."
Texas Tech is now serving those who have served our country as part of a new military and veterans program aimed at helping soldiers become students.
"The completion rate for vets at college campuses is unfortunately quite low, but we find if we can adjust the environment, put them into a team environment they're used to, then we can improve that success rate quite a bit," said MVP assignment director Dave Lewis.
According to Lewis, more than 400 veterans attended Tech last semester, a number the university hopes to increase.
Flores said, "We hope to be the university of choice in Texas and the southwest for vets to get their education. Lubbock's a great place, it's a great community. Texas Tech is the place for a veteran to get their education."
Lewis says other universities offer similar programs to give service men and women a fighting chance as they hit the books.
"Our goal is to connect the dots, take care of all those sort of issues, programs, get them the skills that may have. They may be a little bit rusty since they left high school many years ago. Take care of those kinds of things. Get them any kind of counseling opportunities or anything else they need."
