Hi y’all! My name is Bryson, and I am a sophomore majoring in history on the pre-law professional track. I transferred to Hopkins from a community college on Maryland’s Eastern Shore in Fall 2024. I served on active duty in the Air Force from 2019 to 2023 over three assignments, from Tucson, Arizona, to Adana, Turkey, and finally Hampton, Virginia.
When I left active duty, I was searching for a school that would appreciate the breadth of uniqueness and life experience that accompanies an enlistment in the armed forces. As veterans, we often forget how nuanced our travel, leadership experience, and independence can be. My former community college was quite friendly to veterans and had a sizable portion of enrolled veteran-students, but my goal had always been to matriculate to a four-year university to begin the path toward law school and eventually become a licensed attorney. The pre-law community at Hopkins is constantly offering its members internships and experience that will prove vital to the growth of a career within law, both within the Baltimore-DC corridor and the national legal network. For instance, a friend of mine drawn to both art and law has taken intersession courses on antiquities trafficking law and worked at the Homewood Museum and Baltimore Museum of Art. It’s also encouraging that 97% of Hopkins graduates that apply to law school are accepted to one or more schools!
Beyond the career possibilities and academic opportunities, you will find it easy to make friends within the groups of students in orientation. Pictured below are my wonderful friends Gaby and Maria Paula during our transfer student orientation in August! There is also a student organization called the Transfer Student Union, which is full of passionate, driven, and incredibly bright individuals who come from across the world. The Transfer Student Union is comprised of transfer students whose prerogative is increasing your quality of life and academic experience in any way possible, like helping new students gain research opportunities, and creating a degree tracking system that helps guide you through graduation requirements.
Orientation offers a gentle introduction to the university as well as its student body. Through the process of attending events, speaking to First-Year Mentors and professors and learning more about Hopkins, you will grow close to those to your left and right. Students are given the opportunity to attend an open house hosted by the staff of each respective department, which allows an open discourse with professors before the start of the semester. At the end of orientation, our First-Year Mentors took us to an Orioles game at Camden Yards.
During my first semester at Hopkins, one thing that helped ease the academic transition was reaching out directly to my class TAs and professors, as well as my academic advisor, who proved invaluable in navigating all the changes one experiences. My advisor taught me how to search online for courses that piqued my interest, which was crucial for locating and registering for classes I would enjoy. For folks who are concerned about challenges with the course rigor at Hopkins, there are guided and personalized tutoring sessions offered throughout all terms, and the professors and staff make tremendous efforts to be accessible and guide your learning process. PILOT sessions are hosted on campus for many classes offered at Hopkins where another student, often a junior or senior who has recently succeeded in the course, helps mentor students through content. The people at Hopkins are inclined to do everything in their power to help you succeed in your endeavors!
One piece of advice I cannot emphasize enough is to utilize Service to School. It’s a nonprofit organization that assigns students like you and me to a personal counselor, often another veteran, that helps guide you through the process of applications. These services are completely free, and the counselors and staff care deeply about changing the long-known fact that veterans have often been underrepresented in institutions of higher education. Applying to universities can be a stressful process, so do not be afraid to ask somebody for help. These people are guaranteed to assist you!
In making this transition towards higher education, it is important to remember that, as a veteran, you have developed a level of self-sufficiency and responsibility that will aid tremendously in being a conscientious student. The diverse experiences of service that inform us as citizens can guide your interests at a university that garners creativity and passions and concentrates it into research that changes the way we interact with the world around us. While stationed in Turkey, I was enamored with my proximity to sites of ancient religious significance, and I am currently conducting research on religious interaction in early modern Eastern Europe. In May, I will travel to Warsaw, Poland to pursue these interests. I am able to empower my future because I have become part of a university that believes in students like me.
