By: Julie Pike, Editor-in-Chief
USM students Kelsey Earley and Mary Swanson were picked to join the Student Veterans of America (SVA) at their annual Leadership Institute in Washington D.C. this past week, the USM Communications department announced in a press released last Wednesday.
Earley, a senior who served in the Navy, and Swanson, a sophomore who served in the Marines, were picked among 100 student veterans across the country.
The Leadership Institute, which began last Thursday, is a three-day program coaching participants on “leadership behavior, personal branding, how to deliver results, and fostering relationships,” as stated on the SVA website.
Swanson is the president of USM’s Student Veterans of America chapter: the Husky Veterans.
“Turning to higher education and connecting with the SVA made me remember I joined the Marine Corps to make a difference,” Swanson said in the press release.
Last year USM also had two student veterans chosen to attend the program. Last year USM had 327 student veterans, the most out of any Maine university, the press release said.