/// EDUCATION
‘MY PTSD WAS THE PROBLEM’ You could say Young was a jock before he was a nerd. Those were back in his Navy days, when he was an aviation boatswain’s mate in charge of damage control for his division from 2003 to 2007. Pushed to do drugs and run away from physical abuse at home, enlisting was his escape from a living hell. But new traumas awaited him after he donned Service Dress Blue. Post-9/11 veterans like Young are twice as likely to have an emotionally traumatizing experience during service and two-and-a-half times more likely to be diagnosed with PTSD compared to pre-9/11 veterans, according to a survey by the Washington, D.C., nonprofit Pew Research Center . For Young, this trend bears out. The 40-year-old is haunted by specters of war he witnessed on deployment two decades ago in the Persian Gulf off the coast of Iraq. When al Qaeda terrorists on rib boats besieged his ship and shot at him, he watched as an anti- submarine helicopter blew the men to pieces. One of his own chiefs was decapitated by a helicopter rotor, and another was sucked into the intake of an F-18 fighter plane. A close friend went overboard, never to be seen again. All Young found was a nameless floater, and he watched as a shipmate tried to retrieve the body, stripping flesh from bone. He never learned who it was, and the report was later classified. “It’s all just embedded in my mind,” Young said. According to Pew Research Center, post-9/11 veterans are three-and-a-half times more likely to seek psychological help recovering from trauma compared to pre-9/11 veterans, most often seeking a counselor through an employer or university. When Young sought resources through his university to grapple with his PTSD and a suicide scare, “They didn’t seem to care one bit,” he said. And when he aired concerns about the quality of his instruction to his program director, “She came to the conclusion that I was the problem,” he said. “’My PTSD was the problem’ — those were her exact words.” PAIN IN THE NEG In March, Young joined two dozen other veterans in testifying to the U.S. Department of Education during its “Neg Reg” — a hearing in which affected interest groups negotiate federal education regulations — blowing the whistle on lax oversight and widespread abuse as the government prepares to tighten college authorization and accreditation standards. “Veterans are rightfully furious when they realize that an accredited school — approved by both the Department of Education and the VA — failed to
provide a marketable degree or a quality education in return for their hard-earned G.I. Bill benefits,” Della Justice, vice president for legal affairs at the Washington, D.C., bipartisan nonprofit Veterans Education Success, said in an email to American Veterans Magazine . “Student veterans rely on the government’s system for school oversight, but the system is broken. Now is the time to close the floodgates and improve the standards so that student veterans get the education and outcomes they deserve.” Young questioned Full Sail’s accreditation after he learned his $60,000 degree in game design was about as useful as a side quest in a speedrun. The gaming industry does not recognize “game design” as a legitimate degree because it is too broad. Public schools like Arizona State University and Purdue University offer degrees in computer science and 3D animation with a focus on game development. But a google search for “video game degree” invariably returns Full Sail University as the first result, in the form of a sponsored link. Young ate up the school’s ubiquitous online ads like Pac-Man, and in 2012 he declared it his dream school. In 2020, he finally enrolled, completing his degree last year. The red flags appeared early — the curriculum was outdated, YouTube videos replaced live instruction, students were unfairly accused of cheating and teachers made disparaging comments about students with PTSD and cognitive disabilities. YOU CAN’T TEACH, STUPID In messages leaked to American Veterans Magazine, student Nash Crawford complains to game development Professor John Seitz that he isn’t receiving adequate guidance, explanation or acknowledgment when seeking help with the course material. Seitz’s response is shocking. The professor — who is teaching in the Game Design degree program — responds, “Can you teach someone how to design or debug? You really can’t.” Seitz writes that Crawford is trying to “start an argument to fire-up the entitled mob even more.” When Crawford expresses he is struggling to grasp the course material and asks for help, Seitz’s response is this: “I personally blame the public schools system for graduating students that should have never graduated. Students graduating that cannot read, tell analog time, write a complete sentence, or simple math.” These complaints over student aptitude are from a professor at a university with a 100% acceptance rate.
AVY VETERAN ADAM YOUNG’S superhero poster is worth more than his college degree. To him, at least. The poster on his wall depicting the Hulk, Captain America and Iron DEGREES OF DIFFICULTY N Man is neatly framed in mint condition. It’s nerd nirvana inside his Chandler home. Glass cabinets brim with anime and video game action figures. Funko Pops, Rubik’s cubes and console controllers are strewn around the super-wide curved computer monitor on his desk. A plasma ball dances above a retro arcade machine. PREDATORY SCHOOLS LEAVE VETS IN DEBT AND UNEMPLOYABLE. THEY’VE HAD ENOUGH BY ELIAS WEISS
“
VETERANS ARE RIGHTFULLY FURIOUS WHEN THEY REALIZE THAT AN ACCREDITED SCHOOL — APPROVED BY BOTH THE DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION AND THE VA — FAILED TO PROVIDE A MARKETABLE DEGREE
OR A QUALITY EDUCATION IN
RETURN FOR THEIR HARD-EARNED G.I. BILL BENEFITS. ” DELLA JUSTICE, VICE PRESIDENT FOR LEGAL AFFAIRS,WASHINGTON, D.C., BIPARTISAN NONPROFIT VETERANS EDUCATION SUCCESS
He never even took his diploma out of the envelope it came in. The superheroes on his Marvel poster cast a judgmental gaze on the forsaken degree from their perch high on the wall. “I call it Full Fail University,” Young quipped, tossing the parcel back into its cardboard coffin. “Full Sail felt like such a scam school.” The university didn’t just fail to launch his career — it crash-landed it — pilfering Young’s G.I. Bill benefits, leaving him high and dry in the job market and dismissing his post-combat PTSD like yesterday’s news. “Schools like this shouldn’t be able to exist and screw over veterans,” Young told American Veterans Magazine , echoing the sentiments of many veterans who’ve fallen victim to the false promises of for-profit diploma mills. But he’s no silent victim. In March, he was among a chorus of veteran voices testifying to the U.S. Department of Education in demand of oversight. These institutions cash in on dreams and crush them, leaving veterans broke and professionally adrift.
It's nerd nirvana inside Navy veteran Adam Young's Chandler home during an interview with American Veterans Magazine.
And next to the katana swords on the wall are those meticulously framed posters of Harry Potter, League of Legends and, of course, the Marvel pantheon. Young, an aspiring video game creator, proudly displays his prized possessions. Notably absent is his degree in video game design from Full Sail University, creased and relegated to a dusty box in the corner. It used to be his dream school — but the dream turned into a nightmare.
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AMERICAN VETERANS Summer 2024
Summer 2024 AMERICAN VETERANS
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