In mid-October, President Barack Obama announced that the United States’ military occupation of Iraq would officially cease and that the withdrawal of fewer than 40,000 American soldiers would be completed by the end of 2011. So what’s next for these men and women? Many will begin and some will even return to their educational careers, so what does that mean for the already over-crowded and under-serviced San Diego Mesa College population?

Many returning veterans have already made their way to San Diego colleges and universities in the last year. According to an article from The San Diego Union-Tribune, in the last year veteran enrollment increased by over 50 students at the University of California San Diego, over 60 students at San Diego State University and the University of San Diego and just above 110 students at California State University San Marcos.

More often than not, returning veterans will often begin their careers in academia at the community college level, proving these numbers to be vast understatements for what is underway for Mesa College. 40,000 soldiers isn’t a whole lot in the grand scheme of things, however San Diego is a military town and a sought after hometown by many, which will inevitably lead to a growth in military transplants.

It’s a sigh of relief knowing that our troops will finally return home safely at the end of this year, however here at Mesa we can’t help but be concerned for own academic futures. Mesa College has seen a decrease in class availability over the past couple years, not to mention an increase in unit prices; the last thing this campus needs is an additional population influx over the next several semesters.

The academic timeline of a soldier is not always similar to that of non-veteran students. Many incoming veterans will be busy finding homes, finding work and of course just assimilating into everyday American life again; therefore increasing the likeliness that a veteran student’s educational career could be prolonged more so than that of a typical community college student.

Despite these many problems being caused by administrative budgeting issues, it is apparent that it is up to us to pick up the slack and monitor and maintain our own educational journeys in order to stay on path. We must do this by being aware of registration dates and deadlines while coordinating with campus counselors to assure that we are taking classes that are both necessary and beneficial to us and our individual goals.

Both current and incoming students are going to have to work together in order to assist one another with our academic goals. We have to put the community back in community college if we’re all going to have a chance at succeeding and exceeding our expectations.