A booming voice can be heard echoing through Davidson Hall at Central Connecticut State University. Around a corner, a middle-aged man was leading a group of prospective students and their families. His energy radiates among the students, as he shares countless tidbits of information and reasons why they should call CCSU their home too. He may not be the tour guide the parents were expecting, but his enthusiasm and outgoing personality win over the crowd.
George Hendrickson is a retired army veteran who has spent 29 years in the military as a logistic specialist. At 52, his transition into college wasn’t always easy. Readjusting to the civilian lifestyle has been a difficult mission for Hendrickson.
As he tells it, in the military, he knew what he had to wear every day down to his socks, but in his current life, one of his biggest challenges in the morning is deciding what to wear.
“It wasn’t until I got to become a tour guide that I had a uniform to wear. I had purchased 14 different Central shirts, four hoodies, and four different hats. I always wear either black or grey jeans with my CCSU gear. The reason I bought so much of it was because this now gives me a uniform to wear,” Hendrickson said.
Photo provided by George Hendrickson
But Hendrickson had more difficult adjustments than clothes as he settled into a civilian life that he found boring and directionless at times.
While Hendrickson himself has never attempted suicide, he admits that the transition to civilian life and the beginning of his academic career has caused him to consider it.
“There are times when I would feel like it (suicidal). I would get depressed, but I know that I’m never going to because of everything that I would miss if I did. I would not have seen my grandchild born if I would have just ended it all in 2013. That in itself is a reason to want to live for as long as possible” Hendrickson said.
CCSU is very active in preventing death by suicide among those in the military and student veterans in the campus community, as suicide is a leading cause of death among college students. The death toll is even higher for student veterans, student athletes, members of the LGBTQ community, first generation students, and the male population in general.
In 2015, Dr. Jonathan Pohl, coordinator of wellness education at the university, worked alongside the school to apply for a grant for suicide prevention work through SAMHSA, The federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.
The university received the Garrett Lee Smith Campus Suicide Prevention Grant for three consecutive years. The program includes Kate Ayotte, who is now the Wellness Program Administrator for Suicide Prevention for CCSU. Hosting programs that educate students about signs of suicide and how they can get help are among her many tasks.
“A lot of people think that because I do suicide prevention that I will counsel suicidal students; however, that is not the case. I am on the primary prevention side of things, which means that before an issue arises, I do the preventative work,” Ayotte said.
The university is trying to create an umbrella of support for the campus, where 10 percent of the community is trained in QPR, which stands for Question, Persuade, and Refer, which provides students with specific tools to help their fellow students. Ayotte is not only responsible for providing QPR training to students, but also to the teaching/administrative staff, and resident assistants as well.
Ayotte admits that getting students to talk about mental health is tricky and she tries to create programs that are fun for students and that lighten the mood towards a subject most would keep to themselves.
“My goal is to make students more comfortable facilitating the discussion of mental health” Ayotte said.
Pohl also plays an important role for facilitating suicide prevention for the university.
The veterans’ support group was started by a part-time counselor who recently left the position at the school. While the university searched for someone to continue running the group, Pohl took the role because he had worked for Veterans Administration in the past.
Any student with military experience can join the group. It provides a venue for students to discuss issues they may have during their academic career. The group meets once a week for an hour and runs on a drop-in basis.
“I hope the group offers them (veterans) a chance to talk about their own struggles and be in the position to help others identify when the pressure is too much, possibly getting them to the group or help of other kind,” he said.
CCSU also runs an event called “Fresh Check in Day,” where veterans support organizations raise awareness for the loss of 22 veterans a day to suicide nationwide.
The CCSU community experienced the death of a veteran who died by suicide recently. It came as a surprise to many.
“I didn’t know the student was going through such a difficult time. He was always a very active student and never showed signs,” said Christian Gutierrez, Veteran’s Affairs Coordinator for the University.
The Veteran’s Affairs office is another aspect of suicide prevention that the university provides. Gutierrez is one of two full- time staffers in the office.
“My responsibility is to make sure student veterans and active members of the military are getting the benefits they need,” Gutierrez said.
Gutierrez and his co-worker, Nicole Spenser, help student veterans transition from active duty into the civilian world.
The office operates all year long; during the winter, summer, and spring breaks as well, for any issue that may arise during that time.
Veteran’s Affairs hosts a variety of speakers throughout the school year for student veterans.
“In doing this, I hope veterans realize they are not alone, and they always have a better way out,” said Gutierrez.
Veterans Affairs also works to make partnerships among veterans and the teaching and administrative facility. Gutierrez admits that college isn’t one size fits all, especially for the veteran population. He says it is important that they work together to find the best plan for each student.
“The military gives you every thing that you need in order to be successful, and in college you don’t always get the information that you need. I’ve been teaching myself a lot in college and it’s been really hard for me, Hendrickson said.
Hendrickson is studying the field of business. He said the professors only teach one-third of the information in the classroom and the rest he must find on his own. This makes Hendrickson feel unsure of the information that he is finding independently.
Campus involvement is where Hendrickson feels most passionate, especially his work as a campus tour guide wearing a new uniform.
If you are suicidal, or know someone who is, call the National Suicide Prevention Hotline at 1-800-273-8255 or visit https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/ and hit the “chat” button for immediate help.