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Interview by Cari Hammond

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During Mission 22, which is a day to remember veterans who lost their lives to suicide and has become suicide awareness for veterans. During the event I got a chance to talk a fellow veteran, Randol Brewster who at the time was running a health and wellness booth. He served in Navy during Desert Storm as cook who worked in the war room. 

 

CH: Okay so you work here at the wellness center, do you do any counseling yourself?

RB: No, right now I assist students as they come in and pass the information on to counselors, I manage stuff.

CH: Mission 22 was very important, I feel like we had a good turnout, how is Mission 22 important to veterans?

RB: Well, for me it reminds me of no one left behind.

CH: Right.

RB: As we go through life we go through challenges; some we can handle ourselves and some we can’t, the whole idea would be to be there for your brothers and sisters who need help, maybe they don’t understand this but you do and pass it on and help them get over that hurdle and move on to the next, The next thing is for civilians to see how we come together and what we do for each other and how they possibly could, kind of shadow or benefit from our process on how we treat each other and take care of each other.

CH: Right, I feel like as veterans we always have that comradery with each other, like it doesn’t matter who you are soon as you say you’re a veteran it’s like we have this thing, were I just met you but I feel like I’ve known you for a long time.

RB: Yes.

CH: We share the same thing, I was in the Navy too and you’re in the Navy, even though we went at certain times it feels like I’ve known you forever because we served in the same branch and yet we did different things job it doesn’t matter we gonna come together as family. 

RB: Yes.

CH: Because we are family, it don’t matter, if you Airforce or Marine, we are gonna come together as one and support each other.

CH: So, what was your role in Mission 22?

RB: I was passing out information on counseling and wellness, and how the services are there for military and students,  as I was saying earlier we go through things and sometimes we don’t know we need to talk to someone, and it don’t have to be detrimental, it can be what you’re going through and trying to work through but its effecting your everyday livelihood.

CH: Right, its effecting your assignments or effecting your family life.

RB: Yes, just having someone to talk to and know that somebody’s there, of course I try to be there as well and that’s off the profession side, I’m not a professional counselor but I’m pretty grounded and I try to assist any and every kind of way I can.

 

The Health and Wellness Center can be found on the first floor of the student center pass Student Advising.