I had a call to service and that's when
I joined the Air Force. I was 19 years
old. I was working as a professional
ballet dancer and at 11 started working
with the English National Ballet, then at 16
I moved to St Petersburg Russia to train
there. Right out of high school, I ended
up taking a few college courses, But i
wasn't quite sure how to navigate a
college path. I was stationed in Sasebo
Japan, but I was only there for a year
before
our station chief came and said we need
someone to deploy to Afghanistan. I
worked at pharmacy for a long time and I
went as far as you can go without
an advanced degree, so I knew that I had
to go back to college.
So my sites were set on pharmacy school.
I did deployments - multiple deployments -
to Afghanistan and then Iraq. In 2009 I
was wounded on a mission trying to
rescue an American serviceman. I really
had a difficult time mental
health-wise; worked odd jobs here and
there and then started my non-profit
which takes care of working dogs, because
dogs had saved my life in combat on
multiple occasions. I spent two years out
in Okinawa. Around that time I realized I
wanted to also pursue my own education,
and I had heard about the Eli Whitney
Program
and how how flexible it is for
non-traditional students. Since high
school, I had envisioned myself as being
a pharmacist - like that was my identity
that was what I was going to do, but now
I felt like
there were just too many questions that
were unresolved. My parents had not gone
to college
and it was expensive, and I didn't really
know what I was doing. College just kind
of fell out of the picture for me. I
thought that after ballet, it would be
four career options which were all
within the industry. While I was underway
on the Eisenhower floating somewhere in the
Atlantic, I submitted my application to
Yale. Professor Cooper sent me the link to
the Eli Whitney program and I
wrote him back and I said Zach there's
just no way
a guy like me, and he said no, he's like, I
think you'd be surprised, and I don't
think you should just
push it aside. I talked to my wife about
it, and I said what the heck? In my mind
Yale seemed like it was almost on
another planet. I felt a little bit crazy
for even applying. How would I describe
the undergraduate student body? I would
describe it as bursting with
intellectual energy. I'm constantly
inspired. I'm constantly
thinking
more deeply about what I want to
research and
just fascinated by learning what other
people are researching. It's such an
exciting atmosphere. Everybody is so
passionate about what they're doing and
what they're learning and it's
contagious. I'm part of this cohort of
students who I can be friends with and
interact with and rely on and ask
questions to, but also I'm just a Yale
college student. We take the same classes
we eat the same dining halls. They're
just fascinating people and they're so
engaging. I really like that I'm not
locked into some very strict plan, that I
can take classes in Computer Science and
Psychology and Economics while still
being a Computer Science major. So when I
first came to Yale I thought that I
wanted to do one thing, and then halfway
through I realized I want to do another
the professors here sort of work with
you to lead you to the right area. I felt
pushed in a way that I needed to be
pushed, but also supported like I wasn't
going to fail. My professors are
spectacular. I can call them for advice
on my research or for recommendations.
When I was a junior I found out that I
was pregnant and I went to my dean and
asked for a semester off which I was
immediately granted. My senior year at
Yale I had a daughter who was less than
a year old and I was able to take
classes part time which was really
helpful. The Eli Whitney program is not
some watered-down version of Yale.
Everything that Yale offers to their
traditional undergraduate students is
available to Eli Whitney students. When I
was accepted here, I immediately had Eli
Whitney students reach out to me and
veterans to connect with to let me know
how to use my VA benefits, how to get set
up with classes, how to move to New Haven.
Well one thing I bumped into when I got
here was the African-American Cultural
Center. When I'm not in class I'm usually
doing a house related event. I would
describe the Eli Whitney Community
as incredibly kind and welcoming. I think
that it's hard being older to think that
you can have the same opportunities, and
you absolutely will.
If anything our past experiences help. I
knew that if I could have this
experience there's a ton of other people
out there who just haven't been exposed
to the right teachers or the right
strategies or the right lessons to have
their own breakthroughs. If you apply and
you're accepted, there will be a
community that's waiting for you here
with open arms. It will be challenging - I
promise that. It's a challenge for me, it's
challenging for every student I know
here. If you're admitted they definitely
make the effort to help you get to the
finish line. Yale offered me an extremely
generous financial aid package
and because of that I was able to not
use my GI Bill benefits when I first
started here so that I could save them
for a graduate program. And I don't think
I could have done that at any other
school besides here. Yale was actually
the most affordable option out of every
school I applied to. You're going to be a
part of an energetic body that's serious
about their scholarship. Now that I'm
here, I realize that things aren't so big
and you can fail, and that's actually
quite a good thing. Just be ready to
explore
and change your trajectory. You might not
end up exactly where you're planning and
that's okay.
Had I kind of just played it safe and
picked a place that was just practical, I
would have missed out on something big
and learning something more about myself.
I tell my friends from my old life you
know you could win the lottery
and
not sit in a class at Yale
and I would rather sit in a class at Yale.
I'm Durel. I'm a Yale senior from
Detroit Michigan. I'm Hillary I'm a Yale
Junior from St Paul Minnesota. From
London England. From North Providence
Rhode Island. From New Braunfels Texas.
And I'm an Eli Whitney Student. And I'm
an Eli Whitney Student. I'm an Eli
Whitney Student.