This year, as we think about Veterans Day and our brilliant population of Veterans, Active Duty personnel, and family members, we're thinking beyond a single day and about the continued experience of those who served our country. We're excited to highlight the achievement of our student-veterans.
We're thinking of what service means to students like Air Force Veteran Adrianna Taylor, who reflects on how her military experience has left her "perfectly prepared" and "purposely positioned" to arrive and thrive in academia. Taylor is a 2023 Doctoral Candidate in Social Work, and is educating the next generation of her peers as adjunct faculty in our MSW program.
When I was initially asked to share a message with the Simmons community about my service, I was at a loss for words. Anyone who I have been in class with, taught, or been taught by knows this is a rare occurrence. But there are few experiences in my life that I truly fear my words will not do justice. My military service is often one of those.
Pride and Pain
I have always taken such pride in my family's legacy of military service. I believe the military chose me long before I had the opportunity raise my right hand and recite a sacred oath. I was raised seeing my single mom don her crisp uniform and shine her boots each day. Then, when the time came, I waved to my older brother through blinding tears as he rode off on the bus to basic training. I knew I would someday wear some form of that uniform, I just didn't know exactly how.
Then, I discovered social work.
I completed my internship and then earned my first job as a "real" social worker at the VA. I learned to hold space for the unspeakable traumas and indescribable truths that so many Veterans held close due to the shame of silence and the absence of support. I knew that my mission was to do all I could to prevent as many Veterans as I could from bearing this anguish. But that started in service, so I had to go. My mom swore me in and rendered my first salute, maintaining military bearing through her own pride and pain. We knew what this meant and yet chose to lean into this calling.
My service once meant the absence of roots outside of my nuclear family. It meant constant transition and readjustment. It meant numerous leadership positions. It meant learning a system so completely unknown to most. It meant leaving all I knew and loved for an unknown destination to then build a new home, no matter how temporary. It meant different time zones and cultures and languages. It meant early mornings and PT tests and deployment preparation and continuous training. It meant loss and grief. It meant sometimes feeling alone. It meant that my life was no longer my own.
My service now means having disabilities. It means an empty house and a deployed spouse. It means seeing the world through a lens only few will ever understand. It means an unspoken and undying connection with other Veterans. It means being revered in some spaces and resented in others. It means appreciating the ability to be still. It means heartache during movies that depict military scenarios, as the closeness to home is still surprisingly unbearable at times. It means internalizing a definition of liberty I never would have expected.
It feels inexplicably complex, this pride and pain.
Perfectly prepared
It should come as no surprise that the military has perfectly prepared me for the world of academia. I have full confidence in my ability to handle any and everything. I was taught to communicate effectively and efficiently with folx in the highest ranks. I teach civilians about a population that deserves the most specialized care, which starts with recognizing and creating space for nuance. I held responsibility for decisions that were truly life-changing with my head held high regardless of my own apprehensions. It taught me the actual meaning of teamwork. To navigate the military is to be equipped to navigate all other institutions with transferable skills only able to be honed in uniform. I now know and embody both courage and vulnerability.
Purposely positioned
Now that I have been separated for just over a year, I have expanded beyond my wildest imagination. I am incessantly reminded of the purpose of my service and how this has uniquely positioned me to incite change in this world. There are essentials and fundamentals I could only have gained from being an officer in the world's greatest Air Force. And despite any and all difficulties, I would never alter the decision to raise my hand, as it so profoundly altered my destiny. I have yet to meet a Veteran who would not say the same.
So, the next time you encounter someone who has served and are compelled to thank them, please pause. Not to withdraw your thanks, but to recognize the depth of what you are thanking them for. It is no mistake that such a small percentage of the population serves. It is because of these few that the many are safeguarded.
Saluting Veterans, past, present, and prospective.
Thank you, not only for your service, but also for your love.
Happy Veterans Day to my family in arms.
Adrianna N. Taylor, LCSW, BCD, CCTP
'23DSW