November 24, 2025 • 28 mins
With Veterans Day and Thanksgiving this month at RCBC, we wanted to take time to say thanks to our veterans for their service and salute some of our own on campus. We are joined by RCBC Criminal Justice student and Army veteran, Reginald Taylor, RCBC Adjunct Instructor for the Paramedic Science program and Air Force Veteran, Stephen Hodsdon, and RCBC Coordinator for Military Education and Veteran Service, Jennifer George.
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Episode Transcript
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Jason Varga (00:01):
Welcome to the program. Pod, a national award
winning program on the rcbcPodcast Network, which takes a
deep dive into the programsoffered at rcbc through
different perspectives ofstudents, faculty and employers.
Little twists on this editionhere of the program. Pod, hello
and welcome to this nationalaward winning program now on the
RCBC Podcast Network. I'm yourhost. Jay Varga, normally we
(00:23):
take an rcbc program and do adeep dive, as you just heard
from Hey, also my voice, and doa little bit of different
perspectives within thatparticular program. But today,
flipping the script, because werecently just had Veterans Day,
and with my parents being in themilitary, me being the military
brats, I want to give love andgives honor and salutes to my
fellow veterans here. And youknow, from student faculty,
(00:46):
we've got some veteran servicesstuff to talk about here on a
special edition here for theNovember edition of the program,
pod and joining me today,Reginald Taylor, a Army veteran,
which included a tour inAfghanistan, now turned full
time criminal justice student atrcbc. And Stephen Hodsdon, Air
Force veteran spent nearly 40years as a paramedic before
finding retirement job and as alab skills instructor, which
(01:07):
he'll update his title here aswe go along here as an
instructor growing college atBurlington County, and Jennifer
George, one of my lovely coworkers here at rcbc, the
coordinator for militaryeducation and veteran services
here at rcbc. So welcome to theprogram. Pod everyone. Welcome.
Thank you. Thank you. Yeah,thanks for coming on again.
First off, thank you gentlemenfor your service. As we just got
(01:28):
done having Veterans Day, I knowwhat it takes. Like I said,
military brat born at Dover AirForce Base. I went out to live
in England with parents beingthere. 20 years military, 20
years Air Force, came back here,so I end up in South Jersey from
McGuire Air Force Base. So Iknow what it's like to get the
(01:49):
marching orders and have to do alot of stuff and sacrifice and
everything you all have to do.So again, kudos and just a
heartfelt thank you for yourservice. And that's why I wanted
to change it up a little bit.You know, step outside the box,
not take a one particularprogram, but more about touching
based on the lives of veteransand going through school and
giving back to school andteaching and stuff like that. So
it's first we, um, you know, wealways like to start with the
students here, as we arerecording live here in the
center of excellence for theveteran student success center.
(02:12):
It's a nice little setup gets usoutside and gets this in here,
because this is a great little,you know, area for the veterans
to kind of like hang out. ButReginald you like to go by
Reggie as you say? Okay, allright. So first of all, why'd
you choose the army?
Unknown (02:23):
So originally, I wanted to do the Marines. They had,
like, a height and weightrequirement, and at the time,
yeah, you want to get going armywas like, Oh, thank you. Come
on. Yeah.
Jason Varga (02:33):
So, I mean, so you did, you know, like, you want to
go, like, right into themilitary? Yeah, yep, yep. So
what did, what did you actuallyserve? What kind of role did you
do in the
Unknown (02:40):
started off as infantryman, to be exact, it was
an indirect fire infantryman,which uses mortar systems. Did a
tour in Afghanistan and changedmy job once I came back to comet
engineer, and I spent the restof my time out as a comet
Jason Varga (02:52):
engineer. So when you're talking about those
mortars like and again, myextent is just through Call of
Duty, or whatever it is you'resetting up those, those big
mortars on the ground,
Unknown (03:01):
I carried the smaller one with me, right over my
shoulder, actually, yeah,
Jason Varga (03:04):
wow, wow. That's an incredible experience there.
And, you know, I can onlyimagine so you come over here,
you know, were you actually,when you went in? Did you were
you expecting to have to go takemarching orders to go out to
Afghanistan? Are you preparedfor all that? Yeah, I
Unknown (03:18):
did. The moment we got there, they were like, Oh, by
the way, we're going here nextyear. I was like, Oh, all right,
Jason Varga (03:23):
yeah, yeah. Saw some crazy stuff, I'm sure.
Yeah, yeah. But so you comehere, you do your tour, you come
back home. And then I wasreading over your bio, you
become law enforcement. Go downto Georgia. So were you
stationed down in
Unknown (03:35):
Georgia? So I got out in Texas, and then I had some
family in Georgia, actually.Okay, so, you know, I moved over
to Georgia, and then got intopolicing. You know, once I was,
I was security guard in Georgia,and then the police recruited me
pretty much, and was there forabout a year and a half and
decided to start school after,
Jason Varga (03:53):
yeah, so, so you now, you come back home, right?
And where is home exactly.
Unknown (03:57):
So, I was born in Edgewater Park, New Jersey,
okay, right now I live in CherryHill, okay, but, uh, yeah, just
move back home still. You know,families here and everything,
mom's here, sister and, uh, justwanted to go to school. Yeah,
Jason Varga (04:08):
yeah. So you don't criminal justice, right? Do you
have, like, a specific avenuethat you want to do within
criminal
Unknown (04:13):
justice? So I'm looking to go towards federal law
enforcement now, okay, more so,you know, just local police,
yeah, just see what I can getout of it.
Jason Varga (04:20):
Yeah. Did you mean that you knew you want to go do
that? That's originally, yeah,yeah, yeah. So, so here criminal
justice now, have you had, youknow, Amber or Joe Rizzo, Conte,
your professors? Have you hadthem both? Yes, I love them.
They're great, yeah, they'refantastic stuff. They, you know,
they do a great job, obviously,to law enforcement career day,
which have you been here forthat? Yeah, so they're doing,
(04:42):
and again, I believe it's inMarch, it's come up, yeah? So,
great time there for anybodylistening, you know, the they
pretty much bring everybody, anytype of, you know, law
enforcement, federal, national,local, you know, right here to,
you know, to our Student SuccessCenter. It's a great time. So,
you know, could. Goes to that towork. So where are you headed
(05:03):
off after this? I guess afteryou, you know, your green
criminal justice.
Unknown (05:06):
So right now I have to start looking into the
internships. But really, I'mlooking more towards like the
FBI US Marshals in that area.Okay, that's where it's at it
right now I'm in my junior year,so actually, next fall, I
started at Rowan University.
Jason Varga (05:21):
You're doing a three plus one program. That's
one excellent stuff. So, allright. Well, speaking of faculty
and another fellow veteran here,and also, apparently, a fellow
radio person back in the day andTV, Steven Hudson, you know,
also team Air Force, yes, yes,you're busting, Reggie's chops a
(05:41):
little
Unknown (05:41):
bit. Okay, we need you.
Hey, you know, it's all underservice, good stuff. You know,
one guy was Army, one guy wasNavy, one guy's Air Force, one
guy's coast guards, and it willjust be going back and forth,
and it looks like a real bloodfest. And everybody's laughing.
And as soon as the civilianstarts to chime in the fourth
(06:03):
Gang on him, who can't talk tous like that,
Jason Varga (06:07):
right? No, no, no, no. So incredible story for
yourself. You know, go back toschool when you're in your 70s,
but we gotta take us back to thebeginning, right? So you listed
it. You listed at the age of 19during the Vietnam War, you
know, which I only know throughthe movies and TV shows based
off this polarizing war, and asmuch as I'm a military military
buff or for my time. So couldyou describe the environment
(06:29):
back then and why you chose toenlist?
Unknown (06:32):
Well, back then, it was during the draft, and Vietnam
was still going on pretty good,and it was enlist or wait to get
drafted. There wasn't a wholelot of college deferments then
that they were doing. So ofcourse, I wanted to go ahead and
enlist in a non combative unit,so I'd been in for a little
while, and then I turned aroundand volunteered for one of their
(06:55):
combat units within the AirForce. I wasn't selected, and
then I was stationed in McChordAir Force Base in Washington
State, Tacoma, Washington. I wasout there for two years. The war
ended, and for all intents andpurposes, there was just nothing
going on with 10s of 1000s ofreturning servicemen. What do we
(07:18):
do with them? So this militaryacross all disciplines. Had come
up with a thing called a riffreduction in forces. So they
just went through differentunits, different sections,
different and just said, Okay,we have these guys here that are
not doing a whole lot. You wantto have discharge and go home,
and here's your honorabledischarge, and you have all your
(07:38):
rights and privileges andeverything. And I said, Sign me
right up. So I got out, stayedin in Tacoma, Washington, stayed
in the area. I ended up in radioand television for a few years.
Did that back when FM was juststarting to become a real big
thing, and we're still kind ofdoing the the old am schlock
(08:00):
jock, you know, you tape
Jason Varga (08:03):
these days. Don't know about digital editing.
Difficulties of analog editing?
Unknown (08:10):
No, no, no. And we had actual vinyl that you would put
on a turntable and queue it upwith the instant start, instant
on turntable, so you could talkover it, and things like that,
eventually ended up coming backhome. My next door neighbor
always had an ambulance parkedout in front of their house. Why
do you have an ambulance there?Well, I'm a captain on our
(08:31):
Volunteer Rescue Squad, and mythen wife said, Well, gee, my
husband's always wanted to dothat. So then I came home from
work one day, there's anapplication on the kitchen table
for this rescue squad. So I wentnext thing I know, I'm part of
the rescue squad, and they sendme to EMT school, and I'm like,
wow, this is really cool. So Ihad a part time job in Atlantic
(08:52):
City, is an EMT, and paramedicswere just coming down to
Atlantic and Cape May counties,and it was a combined effort
between the hospitals down thereand the then West Jersey health
system, which is now virtualhealth system. So I inquired
about a few things. And do youwant to become a paramedic?
Yeah, I'd love to become aparamedic. And through a whole
(09:13):
lot of pieces moving, I ended upin a didactic and became a
paramedic and worked in Atlanticand Cape May counties for 17
years. Come along, in year 2000there was an opening for a
flight paramedic with the statepolice the south star, which was
(09:33):
part of virtual health at thattime, and I was selected, so I
flew as a flight paramedic withthe State Police for 10 and a
half years. I needed change. Hadto get out of the air. I went
back to the ground with Atlantacare
Jason Varga (09:47):
flying anymore, or what?
Unknown (09:50):
It's hard to explain, but I just had to get out of the
air. And I had this awesome jobfor a critical care ground
transport offered to me. I said.Okay at a hospital that's six
miles from my house, or 40 milesfrom my house. And I said, so
sign me up. But I never leftVirtua. As a matter of fact, I'm
(10:10):
still with them in their EMSeducation department, so I've
been per diem with that since2010 I did that for a while, and
then turns around my medicaldirector says, Hey, we're
putting another helicopter upfor a mid atlantic medevac. I
want you to fly with me, and Iended up back in the air for
another for another eight yearswhile you're out. Yeah, yeah,
right. They pulled me back inexactly I'd use that line for so
(10:34):
many times I came around. Therewere a lot of moving pieces with
that. There were a lot ofchanges with our air medical
program that I just didn't wantto move forward with. And I went
back to the ground for anothertwo and a half years. I had 39
years of Paramedicine, and I'dbeen here well since 2016 I
(11:01):
think, in the paramedic program,as a per diem skills instructor,
doing that here, doing thatthere, doing that here. So now
I'm pulling the pen, and theysaid, Hey, why don't you come?
That was my retirement gig tocome up here. Yeah. So I'm doing
the skills lab, teaching themwhat we do, how to start AVS
and, you know, do things andread the EKGs, that kind of
(11:22):
stuff. So our then skills labdirector said, oh, we need you
to be an adjunct faculty. Cool.What do I have to do for that?
Well, you need, you're going todo this, you're going to do
that. You're going to do this.Great. So, what year did you get
your degree? Problem? Oh, mygosh, you don't have a degree. I
said, No, we have to do that.Well, Anne Edwards was then the
(11:45):
Assistant Dean for the healthsciences, and she was awesome. I
can't thank her enough. I reallycan't. She came down, when she
first came over, said, What's aparamedic? We gave her the book,
and she read the book. Loved us.She helped me go through all
this, and I ended up getting mydegree in Health Sciences here,
and then became adjunct
Jason Varga (12:06):
faculty. How old were you when you went back to
school?
Unknown (12:10):
Gotta do the math,
Jason Varga (12:11):
70. Yeah. That's impressive. Yeah.
Unknown (12:15):
So and I remember, you know, when I did the graduation
thing and walked up to Dr CEOsee when he hands me the
pamphlet and everything. I said,never too old. Are you? He goes,
nope. I said, so that's prettycool. So now I'm doing that
adjunct. I just had one cohortwe're graduating next month.
They were doing their capstonepresentations for us today, and
(12:36):
that's where I was thisafternoon while they're doing
their capstone. So now I'm stilldoing skills, lab instruction,
and now I follow two differentcohorts through the semesters,
doing as they're doing theirclinical internships.
Jason Varga (12:49):
So what's everything that they're
learning? Because, you know, wejust opened up the application.
Because I run a college websitehere, I know we just opened up
the paramedic website. Peoplecan apply to it. I know there's,
you know, there's some othersteps, and they can just google
rcbc paramedic science and seethe application and get all the
details there, but you know,kind of take us inside a little
bit like, what are they learning
Unknown (13:08):
in those courses? Okay, well, first they have to come
in. They have to be an EMT,yeah, and EMT, first emergency
medical technician that givesthem the basis in patient care,
moving patients, things likethat, taking vitals, recognizing
sick, not sick. So when theycome in with us, their first two
semesters are all their bookwork, doing their didactic work
and learning. They have to haveanatomy and physiology one
(13:31):
before they can even start intothe paramedic program. So they
can get that here, they can getthat there. They can get that
anywhere that's an accreditedschool and bring those credits
in, excuse me, so once we dothat, and they're into the
skills lab, part of it whatthey're doing now, they're going
to learn how to do medicationmathematics, bed math. So I have
(13:52):
to give, you, know, a certaindose, and it's a concentration.
So they have to be able toconvert milligrams and
milliliters into kilograms. Andthis is not England, so
everything's in pounds andounces. So now they have to do
that and learn how to do itquickly when you're on the job
(14:12):
with a sick patient. So youlearn how to do that. They learn
how to give IVs. They learn howto give medications with
intramuscular shots. They learnhow to read EKGs, what they mean
with the certain little squigglylines that you see on TV, on the
machines, what those little beepbeeps mean, and how to take care
of patients with that.
Jason Varga (14:33):
I don't know if how good I'd be in that class with
the math. I feel bad for thatpatient, almost in Hawaii, I see
my wife's gonna do it all thetime. She's, you know, she works
at Virtua, so, but for somereason, she's terrible. Other
numbers that stuff.
Unknown (14:46):
Yeah, you got the calculator on your hip right
now? Some are made by Apple.Some are made by Are you
Jason Varga (14:53):
doing a lot of math in your field? There for I got
statistics right now? And, yeah,oh God, love you brother. That.
Well, kudos. I mean, that's a,you know, it's a nice, genuine
story. And again, the fact yougot to go back and go to school,
you know, when you're 70 andyou're still teaching on here,
and are the students teachingyou anything?
Unknown (15:14):
They do? They all bring something in. We have students
from literally all over thestate. We have students that are
sponsored by the HackensackMeridian health system. We have
students for we have total offive students that are being
sponsored by St clair's way theheck up north, of course,
(15:34):
Virtua. And we have some fromcapital health. So there's,
like, four or five,
Jason Varga (15:43):
yeah, lower health sciences is way up there. Yeah,
it's one of our top programshere at the college and but it's
helping, you know, people likeyourself, that's helping to keep
that program, you know, rock androll
Unknown (15:53):
one of the biggest advantages that we have over the
other programs that are in thestate. Now there's six paramedic
programs in New Jersey, and fiveof them are degree programs. Of
course, we are here a degreeprogram also. But the one thing
that where we differ is thedidactic for our students is all
done online, the other colleges,the other schools, they have to
(16:16):
do in class. Most of them aretwo full days a week, and some
Saturdays in person, they onlyhave to do in their first
semester, one full day a weekhere, then going forward for the
next six semesters, it's onlyfour hours a day physically in
class. So they're spread outfrom all over. So you know, one
(16:37):
day a week, two of our rightnow, three are driving two hours
each way just to come here fortheir four hours. It's an eight
hour day for them, yeah, but alltheir heavy lifting is done
online, and then when they startto do their clinical
internships, they're doing it attheir sponsored hospitals where
they live.
Jason Varga (16:56):
Okay, gotcha. Well, I'm gonna bring in, Jennifer, I
haven't heard your voice in awhile since the you had the
beginning of this year. Youknow, the beginning of this
show, but obviously you're avaluable asset here to our
veterans here on campus. Andagain, Jennifer George, our
coordinator for militaryeducation and veteran services
here at rcbc. So a little bitabout yourself. You know your
background, how you got here,and what you actually do here.
Unknown (17:19):
Well, I've just reached my 20 year anniversary. You
Jason Varga (17:23):
get this little fancy button. Yeah, welcome back
coming up.
Unknown (17:27):
Started at over in Pemberton, and I started in the
registration department. Iworked in registration, I think
two years before I went over tothe base, and then I had off
site campus over there, which Ireally enjoyed. I enjoy working
with the military, working withthe veterans. It just being
somebody that grew up outside ofbase. And I'm sure you know how
(17:48):
that is. I've always been arounddifferent, diverse, diverse
populations, and I really likethat. I really like meeting
people from all over.
Jason Varga (17:58):
Yeah, it's a I mean, that's what made me be
myself, you know, I'm living onbase and always being part of
because everyone's, you know,they get stationed from all over
the country, right? So,different diversities, different
background, right? I mean,Reggie, right? You meet
everybody, yeah. Are you stillclose a lot of people that you
you know? Yes, through
Unknown (18:17):
Facebook, Instagram, yeah, reach out to them whenever
I can. Are you guys all spreadout? Yeah, yeah, just all over
the country, yeah, nice.
Jason Varga (18:23):
Love seeing like that's a cohort of your own
right there, you know what Imean, and a brotherhood like no
other. I'm kind of gettinggoosebumps kind of about it. But
Jennifer, we're here again, atthe center of excellence for the
veterans, for the veteransstudent success. You know the
Veterans Center, shortly termedhere inside the Student Success
Center on the first floor wherethe veterans get to hang out.
There's some resources. It'snice little chill lobby. Well,
(18:45):
what are some services that, youknow, some veterans can kind of
look into here at RC. Bc I knowwhere there's, there's a lot of
avenues to take and, you know,GI benefits and other things
that you can elaborate on,
Unknown (18:55):
yeah, that's basically what I spend a lot of my time
doing, is certifying studentswho are using benefits so they
can come in ask me questions. Iget questions from advisors
here, different things, if it'sshort terms, what's considered
full time, what's theregulations for the GI Bill? I
deal with chapter 35 studentstoo. That's students who have
(19:17):
somebody in their family or asponsor who is 100% disabled,
and unfortunately, I've beenseeing that number grow crazy
over the last couple months. Butbasically, I'm here to help
students. I can registerstudents. I can advise a little
whatever they kind of need. Igot a lot of it from being over
at the base where I was a onestop shop, where I can bring
(19:39):
somebody in from filling outtheir application all the way to
graduation.
Jason Varga (19:43):
Yes, I think that's part of the hardest process, is
not knowing the paperwork tofill out and doing all that
heavy lifting. Was, how was yourexperience for that Reggie?
Unknown (19:51):
Did you always call her mom? Well,
Jason Varga (19:54):
you're not passing along too, right? You said
you're a peer mentor, right?Yeah, yeah. So, so are you? I.
Working with other veteranstudents, or just students
Unknown (20:02):
in general, everything like veteran students. But I
never, you know, I don't just doveterans like anybody else that
wants to talk, you know, I'm notgonna, you know, help out just
because they're not vet. So,yeah,
Jason Varga (20:12):
I mean, it's kind of overwhelming. Because I know
when I first went to school,it's like, again, my parents be
in military. They wanted me tobe the first grandkid to
graduate in college, right? Iguess, where they want to show
off to their parents and be likewe had the first grandkid, but
when we got there, they didn'tknow anything like what classes
of thought was. When I was goingfull time, I was only going, I
was going 12 credits. I thoughtthat was full time. And sooner
or later, I'm like, wait aminute, I'm a whole semester
(20:32):
behind now, right? And then thenI end up having to take us, like
I just took a semester offbefore I end up going to Rowan
and stuff, but, and I neverutilized resources like
yourselves there, and I thinkit's it's very valuable for
students, especially veteranstoo, because there's added
benefits to help, you know, payfor school. And now I see you
know, we offer 26 VA approvedprograms and high and build high
(20:55):
demand fields like it,healthcare, manufacturing,
supply chain management,business and veterans are
looking to pursue a higherdegree. Many of these options
even provides credits towardsthat. Those degree programs
maybe like what Reggie is doingwith three plus one in criminal
justice. So can you elaborate alittle bit more on that? Or
like, how they get to theseprograms? Or is there like, a
(21:15):
like, I guess they come to youfirst, or go through admissions,
and how to
Unknown (21:19):
however they come in is perfectly fine. Yeah, they could
come in here first. They couldgo through admissions. They
could go through advising,whatever it takes, wherever they
feel comfortable. That's thebiggest thing here, I think, is
making it feel warm andcomfortable for everybody who
comes
Jason Varga (21:36):
right jumping off of that. Is there something you
know, whether Steven or as youyourself, you know, veteran
going back to school, whether itwas, you know, you took some
time away and you came back, oryou come jumped right into law
enforcement and then continue togo pretty much right from law
enforcement to back to school orwhatever it is. What could you
tell other veterans that arethinking about, you know, going
(21:57):
back to school and have, like,their doubts or their concerns,
Unknown (22:01):
I will say, do it, yeah. I will say, do it. It
definitely helps. Having aveteran center at the school
definitely, because you know youfeel that camaraderie again,
yep. But I say, Just do it,yeah, just go for it. And
Jason Varga (22:13):
are you meeting a lot of veterans, like in the
center? Yes, I saw I
Unknown (22:17):
meet them a lot. I don't see them a whole lot in
school, but I do meet thembecause I know some of them
have, like, online classes. Surething, yeah, but, um, yeah, you
know, reach out through emailand stuff. Steven, yeah,
we got several veterans in ourprogram right now, and sometimes
they've had a medical backgroundin the service. They might have
been a corpsman or somethinglike that, so they can dovetail
(22:39):
what they've done before intothe Paramedicine program that we
have here. I know they got a lotof support here from the school.
Yeah. So other than that, that'sabout it, you know, I think he's
just trying
Jason Varga (22:53):
to give them the encouragement again, because
it's, I think sometimes it'sthat paperwork that we were just
talking about, right? And aremaking that decision, and they
know that, you know, they wantto go do greater things, because
you already, you're serving yourcountry, and you're, you're
achieving such great goals,right? And then I think it's
just want to continue toachieve, you know, more goals,
just in a different, you know,different avenue, you know,
(23:14):
Thanksgiving coming up. I'llleave the floor to all three of
you. You know what? What wouldyou like to give thanks to,
whether it's your fellowveterans or just anything in
life,
Unknown (23:23):
Sure, absolutely. Reach out to my fellow veterans you
know, because you know freedomisn't free, right? So thanks to
all that have come before andare still doing the job.
Yes, thank God. And you know,all the veterans before me
that's serving now, people thatare serving now, family and
(23:46):
friends,
I would like to thank them alltoo, just definitely the
veterans and the people we have,the people we work with, a lot
of, a lot of great people aroundhere.
Jason Varga (23:59):
I think, you know, as I feel chills go up the
spine, here I go. I don'tnecessarily go out of my way,
but when I see somebody wearinglike that veterans hat, right? I
like to sit there and just thankyou. You know, sometimes they're
like, no, they appreciate it.And they go on when they you
know, they might have their pasthistory, it kind of brings up or
whatever it is, but for the mostpart, they're always, you know,
(24:21):
thank you. And I don't know ifenough people enough people have
that gratitude, because theytruly understand what it took to
go serve the country and have tobe away for holidays or go do
tours, right? So as I always askpeople, you know, if when you
see a veteran, just simple thankyou goes a long way, right? So
it's a good message to carryinto Thanksgiving, you know. But
I want to thank you guys for allyou know, coming on the show and
(24:43):
sharing your background, yourlittle stories and some
experiences here through RCBscene, coming on this program.
Is there anything that I leftout? You want to mention or
Unknown (24:53):
say at all? Like I said, too, we always try to make
people feel welcome. So ifyou're somebody that we have
students. It's all the time thatdidn't even think they would end
up going to college. So if youcan come into this environment
and you feel like you'reconnected and people are got the
same ideas that you do, itdefinitely helps. Yeah, this is
(25:14):
a great thing.
Jason Varga (25:15):
Yeah, I agree to that, yeah. And they're not in
it by themselves, like you said,Reggie's here, and you have that
cohort, you have your friends,and so love the vibe. And I love
this, you know, this veterancenter here, this nice lounge.
It's kind of, it's expanding. Ilike to, you know, it's
welcomed. We had a lot of peoplein here earlier to another like
speeds, because you do that alot too. Jennifer, like, there
was a guy doing here some like,veteran doing some mental
(25:36):
health, yeah,
Unknown (25:38):
not too often. We could probably use a little bit more
than we
Jason Varga (25:42):
always could. We always could, but those are the
types of services I think, that,you know, also go a long way.
And then we have to offer tothem, trying to get the word out
there too, so for all ourveterans.
Unknown (25:51):
So one thing I have done on my side, in my class
with my vets, they tend to be alittle bit older than some of my
students, and they bring a typeof maturity already into the
classroom, and that sometimestends to become contagious to
some of the younger studentsthat haven't served yet. So, you
(26:12):
know, like late 20s, early 30sfor the veterans, and then we
have some students there thatare very early 20s. They haven't
had all those life experiencesthat the veterans have had. So
when we team them up, when wepair them up, and we get to know
dynamics pretty quickly. And youknow, who, man, we shouldn't put
those two guys together. Wedefinitely need to put those two
(26:33):
together over there, you know,that kind of thing. And, you
know, so we have somebody that'shad some more life experiences.
So when we put them into thelifelike scenarios that they do,
we can see more of a leadershiprole coming up. Yeah, I know
that guy, you know, he's, he'sgot a little bit of a history
there, because I can see wherehe's taking charge, you know.
(26:55):
So, you know, you can, you candefinitely see the experience
that they've received in theirlife coming through in the in
the schooling here,
Jason Varga (27:02):
that's great to know, great to see. Well again,
just want to thank you all forcoming on the program here, and
for Reginald Steven to salute toyou and thank you for your
services. Good luck doing ifyou're going to the FBI. You
guys little busy with some stuffgoing on in this world right
now. You're running a crazyworld right now. So good luck
with all of that. But, and makesure you tell, you know, Dr
(27:24):
scante or Dr Rizzo, tell him,Jason, I used to was right
across the hall. We had theradio station in their offices
are loud. They are trying to beon the air, and they're doing,
you know, they're screamingabout everything else, but
they're awesome, awesome peopleon criminal justice. So again,
but Jennifer and again, thankyou for doing what you do and
helping our veterans here on aneveryday basis. So if anybody
(27:46):
has any questions, you know forwhat military and veteran
services rcbc has to offer, youknow, complete visit Jennifer
here at the Veteran Center,inside the Student Success
Center, or log on torcbc.edu/vets and if you're a
veteran listening to the show,Happy belated Veterans Day, but
really, thank you for yourservice every single day. I'm
Jay Varga, and on the nextprogram, we'll speak with some
student speakers for the 2025winter commencement and take you
(28:09):
behind the scenes for thatspecial day. So make sure to
subscribe, wherever it is thatyou get your podcast and don't
have to miss a show, right? Isthat they say do all the radio
bits. But again, have a safe andwonderful Thanksgiving. And
everybody here you know, thankyou so much. You.
Welcome to the program. Pod, a national award
winning program on the rcbcPodcast Network, which takes a
deep dive into the programsoffered at rcbc through
different perspectives ofstudents, faculty and employers.
Little twists on this editionhere of the program. Pod, hello
and welcome to this nationalaward winning program now on the
RCBC Podcast Network. I'm yourhost. Jay Varga, normally we
(00:23):
take an rcbc program and do adeep dive, as you just heard
from Hey, also my voice, and doa little bit of different
perspectives within thatparticular program. But today,
flipping the script, because werecently just had Veterans Day,
and with my parents being in themilitary, me being the military
brats, I want to give love andgives honor and salutes to my
fellow veterans here. And youknow, from student faculty,
(00:46):
we've got some veteran servicesstuff to talk about here on a
special edition here for theNovember edition of the program,
pod and joining me today,Reginald Taylor, a Army veteran,
which included a tour inAfghanistan, now turned full
time criminal justice student atrcbc. And Stephen Hodsdon, Air
Force veteran spent nearly 40years as a paramedic before
finding retirement job and as alab skills instructor, which
(01:07):
he'll update his title here aswe go along here as an
instructor growing college atBurlington County, and Jennifer
George, one of my lovely coworkers here at rcbc, the
coordinator for militaryeducation and veteran services
here at rcbc. So welcome to theprogram. Pod everyone. Welcome.
Thank you. Thank you. Yeah,thanks for coming on again.
First off, thank you gentlemenfor your service. As we just got
(01:28):
done having Veterans Day, I knowwhat it takes. Like I said,
military brat born at Dover AirForce Base. I went out to live
in England with parents beingthere. 20 years military, 20
years Air Force, came back here,so I end up in South Jersey from
McGuire Air Force Base. So Iknow what it's like to get the
(01:49):
marching orders and have to do alot of stuff and sacrifice and
everything you all have to do.So again, kudos and just a
heartfelt thank you for yourservice. And that's why I wanted
to change it up a little bit.You know, step outside the box,
not take a one particularprogram, but more about touching
based on the lives of veteransand going through school and
giving back to school andteaching and stuff like that. So
it's first we, um, you know, wealways like to start with the
students here, as we arerecording live here in the
center of excellence for theveteran student success center.
(02:12):
It's a nice little setup gets usoutside and gets this in here,
because this is a great little,you know, area for the veterans
to kind of like hang out. ButReginald you like to go by
Reggie as you say? Okay, allright. So first of all, why'd
you choose the army?
Unknown (02:23):
So originally, I wanted to do the Marines. They had,
like, a height and weightrequirement, and at the time,
yeah, you want to get going armywas like, Oh, thank you. Come
on. Yeah.
Jason Varga (02:33):
So, I mean, so you did, you know, like, you want to
go, like, right into themilitary? Yeah, yep, yep. So
what did, what did you actuallyserve? What kind of role did you
do in the
Unknown (02:40):
started off as infantryman, to be exact, it was
an indirect fire infantryman,which uses mortar systems. Did a
tour in Afghanistan and changedmy job once I came back to comet
engineer, and I spent the restof my time out as a comet
Jason Varga (02:52):
engineer. So when you're talking about those
mortars like and again, myextent is just through Call of
Duty, or whatever it is you'resetting up those, those big
mortars on the ground,
Unknown (03:01):
I carried the smaller one with me, right over my
shoulder, actually, yeah,
Jason Varga (03:04):
wow, wow. That's an incredible experience there.
And, you know, I can onlyimagine so you come over here,
you know, were you actually,when you went in? Did you were
you expecting to have to go takemarching orders to go out to
Afghanistan? Are you preparedfor all that? Yeah, I
Unknown (03:18):
did. The moment we got there, they were like, Oh, by
the way, we're going here nextyear. I was like, Oh, all right,
Jason Varga (03:23):
yeah, yeah. Saw some crazy stuff, I'm sure.
Yeah, yeah. But so you comehere, you do your tour, you come
back home. And then I wasreading over your bio, you
become law enforcement. Go downto Georgia. So were you
stationed down in
Unknown (03:35):
Georgia? So I got out in Texas, and then I had some
family in Georgia, actually.Okay, so, you know, I moved over
to Georgia, and then got intopolicing. You know, once I was,
I was security guard in Georgia,and then the police recruited me
pretty much, and was there forabout a year and a half and
decided to start school after,
Jason Varga (03:53):
yeah, so, so you now, you come back home, right?
And where is home exactly.
Unknown (03:57):
So, I was born in Edgewater Park, New Jersey,
okay, right now I live in CherryHill, okay, but, uh, yeah, just
move back home still. You know,families here and everything,
mom's here, sister and, uh, justwanted to go to school. Yeah,
Jason Varga (04:08):
yeah. So you don't criminal justice, right? Do you
have, like, a specific avenuethat you want to do within
criminal
Unknown (04:13):
justice? So I'm looking to go towards federal law
enforcement now, okay, more so,you know, just local police,
yeah, just see what I can getout of it.
Jason Varga (04:20):
Yeah. Did you mean that you knew you want to go do
that? That's originally, yeah,yeah, yeah. So, so here criminal
justice now, have you had, youknow, Amber or Joe Rizzo, Conte,
your professors? Have you hadthem both? Yes, I love them.
They're great, yeah, they'refantastic stuff. They, you know,
they do a great job, obviously,to law enforcement career day,
which have you been here forthat? Yeah, so they're doing,
(04:42):
and again, I believe it's inMarch, it's come up, yeah? So,
great time there for anybodylistening, you know, the they
pretty much bring everybody, anytype of, you know, law
enforcement, federal, national,local, you know, right here to,
you know, to our Student SuccessCenter. It's a great time. So,
you know, could. Goes to that towork. So where are you headed
(05:03):
off after this? I guess afteryou, you know, your green
criminal justice.
Unknown (05:06):
So right now I have to start looking into the
internships. But really, I'mlooking more towards like the
FBI US Marshals in that area.Okay, that's where it's at it
right now I'm in my junior year,so actually, next fall, I
started at Rowan University.
Jason Varga (05:21):
You're doing a three plus one program. That's
one excellent stuff. So, allright. Well, speaking of faculty
and another fellow veteran here,and also, apparently, a fellow
radio person back in the day andTV, Steven Hudson, you know,
also team Air Force, yes, yes,you're busting, Reggie's chops a
(05:41):
little
Unknown (05:41):
bit. Okay, we need you.
Hey, you know, it's all underservice, good stuff. You know,
one guy was Army, one guy wasNavy, one guy's Air Force, one
guy's coast guards, and it willjust be going back and forth,
and it looks like a real bloodfest. And everybody's laughing.
And as soon as the civilianstarts to chime in the fourth
(06:03):
Gang on him, who can't talk tous like that,
Jason Varga (06:07):
right? No, no, no, no. So incredible story for
yourself. You know, go back toschool when you're in your 70s,
but we gotta take us back to thebeginning, right? So you listed
it. You listed at the age of 19during the Vietnam War, you
know, which I only know throughthe movies and TV shows based
off this polarizing war, and asmuch as I'm a military military
buff or for my time. So couldyou describe the environment
(06:29):
back then and why you chose toenlist?
Unknown (06:32):
Well, back then, it was during the draft, and Vietnam
was still going on pretty good,and it was enlist or wait to get
drafted. There wasn't a wholelot of college deferments then
that they were doing. So ofcourse, I wanted to go ahead and
enlist in a non combative unit,so I'd been in for a little
while, and then I turned aroundand volunteered for one of their
(06:55):
combat units within the AirForce. I wasn't selected, and
then I was stationed in McChordAir Force Base in Washington
State, Tacoma, Washington. I wasout there for two years. The war
ended, and for all intents andpurposes, there was just nothing
going on with 10s of 1000s ofreturning servicemen. What do we
(07:18):
do with them? So this militaryacross all disciplines. Had come
up with a thing called a riffreduction in forces. So they
just went through differentunits, different sections,
different and just said, Okay,we have these guys here that are
not doing a whole lot. You wantto have discharge and go home,
and here's your honorabledischarge, and you have all your
(07:38):
rights and privileges andeverything. And I said, Sign me
right up. So I got out, stayedin in Tacoma, Washington, stayed
in the area. I ended up in radioand television for a few years.
Did that back when FM was juststarting to become a real big
thing, and we're still kind ofdoing the the old am schlock
(08:00):
jock, you know, you tape
Jason Varga (08:03):
these days. Don't know about digital editing.
Difficulties of analog editing?
Unknown (08:10):
No, no, no. And we had actual vinyl that you would put
on a turntable and queue it upwith the instant start, instant
on turntable, so you could talkover it, and things like that,
eventually ended up coming backhome. My next door neighbor
always had an ambulance parkedout in front of their house. Why
do you have an ambulance there?Well, I'm a captain on our
(08:31):
Volunteer Rescue Squad, and mythen wife said, Well, gee, my
husband's always wanted to dothat. So then I came home from
work one day, there's anapplication on the kitchen table
for this rescue squad. So I wentnext thing I know, I'm part of
the rescue squad, and they sendme to EMT school, and I'm like,
wow, this is really cool. So Ihad a part time job in Atlantic
(08:52):
City, is an EMT, and paramedicswere just coming down to
Atlantic and Cape May counties,and it was a combined effort
between the hospitals down thereand the then West Jersey health
system, which is now virtualhealth system. So I inquired
about a few things. And do youwant to become a paramedic?
Yeah, I'd love to become aparamedic. And through a whole
(09:13):
lot of pieces moving, I ended upin a didactic and became a
paramedic and worked in Atlanticand Cape May counties for 17
years. Come along, in year 2000there was an opening for a
flight paramedic with the statepolice the south star, which was
(09:33):
part of virtual health at thattime, and I was selected, so I
flew as a flight paramedic withthe State Police for 10 and a
half years. I needed change. Hadto get out of the air. I went
back to the ground with Atlantacare
Jason Varga (09:47):
flying anymore, or what?
Unknown (09:50):
It's hard to explain, but I just had to get out of the
air. And I had this awesome jobfor a critical care ground
transport offered to me. I said.Okay at a hospital that's six
miles from my house, or 40 milesfrom my house. And I said, so
sign me up. But I never leftVirtua. As a matter of fact, I'm
(10:10):
still with them in their EMSeducation department, so I've
been per diem with that since2010 I did that for a while, and
then turns around my medicaldirector says, Hey, we're
putting another helicopter upfor a mid atlantic medevac. I
want you to fly with me, and Iended up back in the air for
another for another eight yearswhile you're out. Yeah, yeah,
right. They pulled me back inexactly I'd use that line for so
(10:34):
many times I came around. Therewere a lot of moving pieces with
that. There were a lot ofchanges with our air medical
program that I just didn't wantto move forward with. And I went
back to the ground for anothertwo and a half years. I had 39
years of Paramedicine, and I'dbeen here well since 2016 I
(11:01):
think, in the paramedic program,as a per diem skills instructor,
doing that here, doing thatthere, doing that here. So now
I'm pulling the pen, and theysaid, Hey, why don't you come?
That was my retirement gig tocome up here. Yeah. So I'm doing
the skills lab, teaching themwhat we do, how to start AVS
and, you know, do things andread the EKGs, that kind of
(11:22):
stuff. So our then skills labdirector said, oh, we need you
to be an adjunct faculty. Cool.What do I have to do for that?
Well, you need, you're going todo this, you're going to do
that. You're going to do this.Great. So, what year did you get
your degree? Problem? Oh, mygosh, you don't have a degree. I
said, No, we have to do that.Well, Anne Edwards was then the
(11:45):
Assistant Dean for the healthsciences, and she was awesome. I
can't thank her enough. I reallycan't. She came down, when she
first came over, said, What's aparamedic? We gave her the book,
and she read the book. Loved us.She helped me go through all
this, and I ended up getting mydegree in Health Sciences here,
and then became adjunct
Jason Varga (12:06):
faculty. How old were you when you went back to
school?
Unknown (12:10):
Gotta do the math,
Jason Varga (12:11):
70. Yeah. That's impressive. Yeah.
Unknown (12:15):
So and I remember, you know, when I did the graduation
thing and walked up to Dr CEOsee when he hands me the
pamphlet and everything. I said,never too old. Are you? He goes,
nope. I said, so that's prettycool. So now I'm doing that
adjunct. I just had one cohortwe're graduating next month.
They were doing their capstonepresentations for us today, and
(12:36):
that's where I was thisafternoon while they're doing
their capstone. So now I'm stilldoing skills, lab instruction,
and now I follow two differentcohorts through the semesters,
doing as they're doing theirclinical internships.
Jason Varga (12:49):
So what's everything that they're
learning? Because, you know, wejust opened up the application.
Because I run a college websitehere, I know we just opened up
the paramedic website. Peoplecan apply to it. I know there's,
you know, there's some othersteps, and they can just google
rcbc paramedic science and seethe application and get all the
details there, but you know,kind of take us inside a little
bit like, what are they learning
Unknown (13:08):
in those courses? Okay, well, first they have to come
in. They have to be an EMT,yeah, and EMT, first emergency
medical technician that givesthem the basis in patient care,
moving patients, things likethat, taking vitals, recognizing
sick, not sick. So when theycome in with us, their first two
semesters are all their bookwork, doing their didactic work
and learning. They have to haveanatomy and physiology one
(13:31):
before they can even start intothe paramedic program. So they
can get that here, they can getthat there. They can get that
anywhere that's an accreditedschool and bring those credits
in, excuse me, so once we dothat, and they're into the
skills lab, part of it whatthey're doing now, they're going
to learn how to do medicationmathematics, bed math. So I have
(13:52):
to give, you, know, a certaindose, and it's a concentration.
So they have to be able toconvert milligrams and
milliliters into kilograms. Andthis is not England, so
everything's in pounds andounces. So now they have to do
that and learn how to do itquickly when you're on the job
(14:12):
with a sick patient. So youlearn how to do that. They learn
how to give IVs. They learn howto give medications with
intramuscular shots. They learnhow to read EKGs, what they mean
with the certain little squigglylines that you see on TV, on the
machines, what those little beepbeeps mean, and how to take care
of patients with that.
Jason Varga (14:33):
I don't know if how good I'd be in that class with
the math. I feel bad for thatpatient, almost in Hawaii, I see
my wife's gonna do it all thetime. She's, you know, she works
at Virtua, so, but for somereason, she's terrible. Other
numbers that stuff.
Unknown (14:46):
Yeah, you got the calculator on your hip right
now? Some are made by Apple.Some are made by Are you
Jason Varga (14:53):
doing a lot of math in your field? There for I got
statistics right now? And, yeah,oh God, love you brother. That.
Well, kudos. I mean, that's a,you know, it's a nice, genuine
story. And again, the fact yougot to go back and go to school,
you know, when you're 70 andyou're still teaching on here,
and are the students teachingyou anything?
Unknown (15:14):
They do? They all bring something in. We have students
from literally all over thestate. We have students that are
sponsored by the HackensackMeridian health system. We have
students for we have total offive students that are being
sponsored by St clair's way theheck up north, of course,
(15:34):
Virtua. And we have some fromcapital health. So there's,
like, four or five,
Jason Varga (15:43):
yeah, lower health sciences is way up there. Yeah,
it's one of our top programshere at the college and but it's
helping, you know, people likeyourself, that's helping to keep
that program, you know, rock androll
Unknown (15:53):
one of the biggest advantages that we have over the
other programs that are in thestate. Now there's six paramedic
programs in New Jersey, and fiveof them are degree programs. Of
course, we are here a degreeprogram also. But the one thing
that where we differ is thedidactic for our students is all
done online, the other colleges,the other schools, they have to
(16:16):
do in class. Most of them aretwo full days a week, and some
Saturdays in person, they onlyhave to do in their first
semester, one full day a weekhere, then going forward for the
next six semesters, it's onlyfour hours a day physically in
class. So they're spread outfrom all over. So you know, one
(16:37):
day a week, two of our rightnow, three are driving two hours
each way just to come here fortheir four hours. It's an eight
hour day for them, yeah, but alltheir heavy lifting is done
online, and then when they startto do their clinical
internships, they're doing it attheir sponsored hospitals where
they live.
Jason Varga (16:56):
Okay, gotcha. Well, I'm gonna bring in, Jennifer, I
haven't heard your voice in awhile since the you had the
beginning of this year. Youknow, the beginning of this
show, but obviously you're avaluable asset here to our
veterans here on campus. Andagain, Jennifer George, our
coordinator for militaryeducation and veteran services
here at rcbc. So a little bitabout yourself. You know your
background, how you got here,and what you actually do here.
Unknown (17:19):
Well, I've just reached my 20 year anniversary. You
Jason Varga (17:23):
get this little fancy button. Yeah, welcome back
coming up.
Unknown (17:27):
Started at over in Pemberton, and I started in the
registration department. Iworked in registration, I think
two years before I went over tothe base, and then I had off
site campus over there, which Ireally enjoyed. I enjoy working
with the military, working withthe veterans. It just being
somebody that grew up outside ofbase. And I'm sure you know how
(17:48):
that is. I've always been arounddifferent, diverse, diverse
populations, and I really likethat. I really like meeting
people from all over.
Jason Varga (17:58):
Yeah, it's a I mean, that's what made me be
myself, you know, I'm living onbase and always being part of
because everyone's, you know,they get stationed from all over
the country, right? So,different diversities, different
background, right? I mean,Reggie, right? You meet
everybody, yeah. Are you stillclose a lot of people that you
you know? Yes, through
Unknown (18:17):
Facebook, Instagram, yeah, reach out to them whenever
I can. Are you guys all spreadout? Yeah, yeah, just all over
the country, yeah, nice.
Jason Varga (18:23):
Love seeing like that's a cohort of your own
right there, you know what Imean, and a brotherhood like no
other. I'm kind of gettinggoosebumps kind of about it. But
Jennifer, we're here again, atthe center of excellence for the
veterans, for the veteransstudent success. You know the
Veterans Center, shortly termedhere inside the Student Success
Center on the first floor wherethe veterans get to hang out.
There's some resources. It'snice little chill lobby. Well,
(18:45):
what are some services that, youknow, some veterans can kind of
look into here at RC. Bc I knowwhere there's, there's a lot of
avenues to take and, you know,GI benefits and other things
that you can elaborate on,
Unknown (18:55):
yeah, that's basically what I spend a lot of my time
doing, is certifying studentswho are using benefits so they
can come in ask me questions. Iget questions from advisors
here, different things, if it'sshort terms, what's considered
full time, what's theregulations for the GI Bill? I
deal with chapter 35 studentstoo. That's students who have
(19:17):
somebody in their family or asponsor who is 100% disabled,
and unfortunately, I've beenseeing that number grow crazy
over the last couple months. Butbasically, I'm here to help
students. I can registerstudents. I can advise a little
whatever they kind of need. Igot a lot of it from being over
at the base where I was a onestop shop, where I can bring
(19:39):
somebody in from filling outtheir application all the way to
graduation.
Jason Varga (19:43):
Yes, I think that's part of the hardest process, is
not knowing the paperwork tofill out and doing all that
heavy lifting. Was, how was yourexperience for that Reggie?
Unknown (19:51):
Did you always call her mom? Well,
Jason Varga (19:54):
you're not passing along too, right? You said
you're a peer mentor, right?Yeah, yeah. So, so are you? I.
Working with other veteranstudents, or just students
Unknown (20:02):
in general, everything like veteran students. But I
never, you know, I don't just doveterans like anybody else that
wants to talk, you know, I'm notgonna, you know, help out just
because they're not vet. So,yeah,
Jason Varga (20:12):
I mean, it's kind of overwhelming. Because I know
when I first went to school,it's like, again, my parents be
in military. They wanted me tobe the first grandkid to
graduate in college, right? Iguess, where they want to show
off to their parents and be likewe had the first grandkid, but
when we got there, they didn'tknow anything like what classes
of thought was. When I was goingfull time, I was only going, I
was going 12 credits. I thoughtthat was full time. And sooner
or later, I'm like, wait aminute, I'm a whole semester
(20:32):
behind now, right? And then thenI end up having to take us, like
I just took a semester offbefore I end up going to Rowan
and stuff, but, and I neverutilized resources like
yourselves there, and I thinkit's it's very valuable for
students, especially veteranstoo, because there's added
benefits to help, you know, payfor school. And now I see you
know, we offer 26 VA approvedprograms and high and build high
(20:55):
demand fields like it,healthcare, manufacturing,
supply chain management,business and veterans are
looking to pursue a higherdegree. Many of these options
even provides credits towardsthat. Those degree programs
maybe like what Reggie is doingwith three plus one in criminal
justice. So can you elaborate alittle bit more on that? Or
like, how they get to theseprograms? Or is there like, a
(21:15):
like, I guess they come to youfirst, or go through admissions,
and how to
Unknown (21:19):
however they come in is perfectly fine. Yeah, they could
come in here first. They couldgo through admissions. They
could go through advising,whatever it takes, wherever they
feel comfortable. That's thebiggest thing here, I think, is
making it feel warm andcomfortable for everybody who
comes
Jason Varga (21:36):
right jumping off of that. Is there something you
know, whether Steven or as youyourself, you know, veteran
going back to school, whether itwas, you know, you took some
time away and you came back, oryou come jumped right into law
enforcement and then continue togo pretty much right from law
enforcement to back to school orwhatever it is. What could you
tell other veterans that arethinking about, you know, going
(21:57):
back to school and have, like,their doubts or their concerns,
Unknown (22:01):
I will say, do it, yeah. I will say, do it. It
definitely helps. Having aveteran center at the school
definitely, because you know youfeel that camaraderie again,
yep. But I say, Just do it,yeah, just go for it. And
Jason Varga (22:13):
are you meeting a lot of veterans, like in the
center? Yes, I saw I
Unknown (22:17):
meet them a lot. I don't see them a whole lot in
school, but I do meet thembecause I know some of them
have, like, online classes. Surething, yeah, but, um, yeah, you
know, reach out through emailand stuff. Steven, yeah,
we got several veterans in ourprogram right now, and sometimes
they've had a medical backgroundin the service. They might have
been a corpsman or somethinglike that, so they can dovetail
(22:39):
what they've done before intothe Paramedicine program that we
have here. I know they got a lotof support here from the school.
Yeah. So other than that, that'sabout it, you know, I think he's
just trying
Jason Varga (22:53):
to give them the encouragement again, because
it's, I think sometimes it'sthat paperwork that we were just
talking about, right? And aremaking that decision, and they
know that, you know, they wantto go do greater things, because
you already, you're serving yourcountry, and you're, you're
achieving such great goals,right? And then I think it's
just want to continue toachieve, you know, more goals,
just in a different, you know,different avenue, you know,
(23:14):
Thanksgiving coming up. I'llleave the floor to all three of
you. You know what? What wouldyou like to give thanks to,
whether it's your fellowveterans or just anything in
life,
Unknown (23:23):
Sure, absolutely. Reach out to my fellow veterans you
know, because you know freedomisn't free, right? So thanks to
all that have come before andare still doing the job.
Yes, thank God. And you know,all the veterans before me
that's serving now, people thatare serving now, family and
(23:46):
friends,
I would like to thank them alltoo, just definitely the
veterans and the people we have,the people we work with, a lot
of, a lot of great people aroundhere.
Jason Varga (23:59):
I think, you know, as I feel chills go up the
spine, here I go. I don'tnecessarily go out of my way,
but when I see somebody wearinglike that veterans hat, right? I
like to sit there and just thankyou. You know, sometimes they're
like, no, they appreciate it.And they go on when they you
know, they might have their pasthistory, it kind of brings up or
whatever it is, but for the mostpart, they're always, you know,
(24:21):
thank you. And I don't know ifenough people enough people have
that gratitude, because theytruly understand what it took to
go serve the country and have tobe away for holidays or go do
tours, right? So as I always askpeople, you know, if when you
see a veteran, just simple thankyou goes a long way, right? So
it's a good message to carryinto Thanksgiving, you know. But
I want to thank you guys for allyou know, coming on the show and
(24:43):
sharing your background, yourlittle stories and some
experiences here through RCBscene, coming on this program.
Is there anything that I leftout? You want to mention or
Unknown (24:53):
say at all? Like I said, too, we always try to make
people feel welcome. So ifyou're somebody that we have
students. It's all the time thatdidn't even think they would end
up going to college. So if youcan come into this environment
and you feel like you'reconnected and people are got the
same ideas that you do, itdefinitely helps. Yeah, this is
(25:14):
a great thing.
Jason Varga (25:15):
Yeah, I agree to that, yeah. And they're not in
it by themselves, like you said,Reggie's here, and you have that
cohort, you have your friends,and so love the vibe. And I love
this, you know, this veterancenter here, this nice lounge.
It's kind of, it's expanding. Ilike to, you know, it's
welcomed. We had a lot of peoplein here earlier to another like
speeds, because you do that alot too. Jennifer, like, there
was a guy doing here some like,veteran doing some mental
(25:36):
health, yeah,
Unknown (25:38):
not too often. We could probably use a little bit more
than we
Jason Varga (25:42):
always could. We always could, but those are the
types of services I think, that,you know, also go a long way.
And then we have to offer tothem, trying to get the word out
there too, so for all ourveterans.
Unknown (25:51):
So one thing I have done on my side, in my class
with my vets, they tend to be alittle bit older than some of my
students, and they bring a typeof maturity already into the
classroom, and that sometimestends to become contagious to
some of the younger studentsthat haven't served yet. So, you
(26:12):
know, like late 20s, early 30sfor the veterans, and then we
have some students there thatare very early 20s. They haven't
had all those life experiencesthat the veterans have had. So
when we team them up, when wepair them up, and we get to know
dynamics pretty quickly. And youknow, who, man, we shouldn't put
those two guys together. Wedefinitely need to put those two
(26:33):
together over there, you know,that kind of thing. And, you
know, so we have somebody that'shad some more life experiences.
So when we put them into thelifelike scenarios that they do,
we can see more of a leadershiprole coming up. Yeah, I know
that guy, you know, he's, he'sgot a little bit of a history
there, because I can see wherehe's taking charge, you know.
(26:55):
So, you know, you can, you candefinitely see the experience
that they've received in theirlife coming through in the in
the schooling here,
Jason Varga (27:02):
that's great to know, great to see. Well again,
just want to thank you all forcoming on the program here, and
for Reginald Steven to salute toyou and thank you for your
services. Good luck doing ifyou're going to the FBI. You
guys little busy with some stuffgoing on in this world right
now. You're running a crazyworld right now. So good luck
with all of that. But, and makesure you tell, you know, Dr
(27:24):
scante or Dr Rizzo, tell him,Jason, I used to was right
across the hall. We had theradio station in their offices
are loud. They are trying to beon the air, and they're doing,
you know, they're screamingabout everything else, but
they're awesome, awesome peopleon criminal justice. So again,
but Jennifer and again, thankyou for doing what you do and
helping our veterans here on aneveryday basis. So if anybody
(27:46):
has any questions, you know forwhat military and veteran
services rcbc has to offer, youknow, complete visit Jennifer
here at the Veteran Center,inside the Student Success
Center, or log on torcbc.edu/vets and if you're a
veteran listening to the show,Happy belated Veterans Day, but
really, thank you for yourservice every single day. I'm
Jay Varga, and on the nextprogram, we'll speak with some
student speakers for the 2025winter commencement and take you
(28:09):
behind the scenes for thatspecial day. So make sure to
subscribe, wherever it is thatyou get your podcast and don't
have to miss a show, right? Isthat they say do all the radio
bits. But again, have a safe andwonderful Thanksgiving. And
everybody here you know, thankyou so much. You.
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