I served my time in the war, now what?

Many times our soldiers have come home from war, and they are thinking, "now what?" They have left their families, their jobs, their friends, and their environment for extended periods of time, and now, everything is different. Life has changed. Their feelings have changed. Their relationships have changed. They have changed.

As soldiers come home from Iraq and Afghanistan, the military hospitals try to help with the physical wounds, but the soldiers are left with dealing with the mental wounds. No one will ever be able to imagine the horrendous thought that linger from the images that are now permanently burned into their very being. How can they go on when they awake at night in a sweat, seeing and hearing bullets flying overhead? How can they go into the office when they have to pass by the cubicle that their best friend once occupied, knowing they will be coming home from the war in a box?

Many of the most common wounds aren't seen until soldiers return home. Post-traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD, is an often-debilitating mental condition that can produce a range of unwanted emotional responses to the trauma of combat. It can emerge weeks, months or years later. If left untreated, it can severely affect the lives not only of veterans, but their families as well. See USA TODAY.

Many websites as well as news anchors have dedicated time to discussing this issue. One thing to help these soldiers as they return home from war is to remember that they may not be comfortable or ready to talk about everything that happened while they were in Iraq. Don't overwhelm them with questions that they may not be ready to talk about with anyone yet.

Re-entry in to the job world may be difficult as well. Previous employers may still have a job waiting, but the responsibilities and skills needed to do the job
may have changed. The returning veteran will have to make a commitment to be patient, to be willing to “work” at moving beyond military life, and to remember that family and work will be different than they were prior to military deployment. See transitioning document.

Veterans can be assured that they are loved, admired, and appreciated. Show a veteran lots of love today.

Blogs that I will use for my topic

Here are some of the blogs that I feel that I can use in my upcoming blogs.

1.) Milblogging.com - This blog gives a military perspective on the topic of what now.

2.) Blog4change.org - This blog will give helpful ways to deal with issues that we face.

3.) Startingoverwithouthim.com - This blog shows opinions and loads of things to do in situations that happen in life. It covers issues such as divorce, going back to college, and lists a lot of resources.

4.) Positivity.org - Really like the energy of this site.

I think that my audience will be middle aged, male as well as female with interest that relate to getting back into the community.

My topic for the semester

For my topic I plan to discuss everyday issues that people face. Most of the issues that I will discuss and research are issues that people run into when they reach a crossroads in their life. I will interview people that are going through these issues. The media point of view will be discussed as well as ways to solve the problem. This blog will hopefully give people a look into people's mind as to exactly what they are thinking when the issues arise. This will also give some guidance as to different ways to handle the issue as well resources that should be helpful.

This is me

My name is Jevette Worthy. I am working on my degree in Business Administration. I have been a student at Northern Virginia Community College for almost two years, and I am looking forward to obtaining my degree and moving on to other goals. I currently work in Washington DC as Assistant Billing Director of a private firm. As with most people, it is sometimes very frustrating trying to juggle work, school, a family, and private time. I firmly believe that anything worth having, is worth putting in the extra work to attain. That saying is what keeps me going. I am looking forward to learning a lot and networking to meet new people.