Happy Halloween. October 2016

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1 October 2016 Happy Halloween Boo! The season of spook has officially begun, which means itʹs time to choose a scary costume, carve a ghoulish jack o lantern, and watch your candy pail overflow. Halloween can be a fun time of year for both children and adults alike. Whether you plan to get decked out in an elaborate costume an attend a haunted bash, take the kids trick or treating, or stay home and hand out goodies to all the ghosts and goblins who appear on your doorstep, you should always keep in mind that it is important, everyone has a safe and happy Halloween. Here at the VARC, we are looking forward to Halloween from eating a little too much candy to downing a glass or two of witchʹs brew! We also hope you enjoy the holiday and don t forget to check the back calendar for a list of upcoming safe Halloween themed events. Finally, have an awesome costume? We would love to showcase our veteran students in our November newsletter! If you think your costume has what it takes to make it in these pages next month send a picture to: robert.smith@ucf.edu Veterans Academic Resource Center Staff Paul Viau Associate Registrar/VARC Director Bethany Glassbrenner Assistant Registrar/Certify Official Lena Huntsman Program Assistant/Certify Official Lorine Cisch-Taylor Transfer & Transition/ Career Services Joshua JJ Johnson Program Coordinator Lee Young Office Manager The Veteran s Academic Resource Center will be accep ng Spring Cer fica ons star ng on November 1, 2016! Connect with other UCF Student Veterans Join the Student Veterans Associa on to connect with other student veterans. Contact the Chris Lonas President: Lonas_chris@knights.ucf.edu

2 VARC - In Case You Missed It Held September 28 th, 2016, this event provided the opportunity for employers to discuss internship, career, and employment opportunities with UCF students and alumni. The Veterans Academic Resource Center worked with UCF Career Services to connect Student Veterans with Employers looking to hire them. We had 28 student veterans sign in and receive their Branch Specific Stars for their name tags. The employers each received a key telling them about the stars and what they mean. The stars indicated which individuals were veterans and in which branch they served. The employers were very excited to have that information and several made a special stop at the VARC table to tell us. Meet the New Members of the VARC Staff We here at the V.A.R.C. are happy to welcome our newest Vet2Vet Peer Mentors! Tracy Lovingood, Marco Justo, Quynh-anh Martin, and Michael Arp all joined the V.A.R.C. Team this Fall 2016 Semester and have taken to their tasks assisting the V.A.R.C. Team serve the Veteran Students of UCF. If you happen to stop by our office make sure to come give each of them a warm weekend! Tracy Lovingood A veteran of the Navy. At UCF she is an Anthropology student and a Junior. Something interesting about her is that she loves to travel and try new foods. Also she flew a pirate flag from one of her ships. Quynh anh Martin A Biology major, minoring in Medical Sociology. She is an Air Force veteran. Marco Justo A senior Aerospace Engineering major. He is an Air Force veteran. His passion is making things fly, jet noises, connecting with people, and tacos! Michael Arp Currently a graduate student pursing an M.S. in Sport and Exercise Science. He was active duty Air Force for 6 years. He likes to spend his time staying active, studying, and reading.

3 VARC Employee Spotlight! The Harley-Davidson culture reflects the bold, rebellious attitude of their products while providing opportunities for professional growth and leadership development. They also demonstrate behaviors throughout their organization that exemplify integrity, accountability, diversity, teamwork and creativity. They also recognize that great companies require great leaders to ensure a sustainable future and strive to build leadership at every level of the company. Robert Smith was selected as the VARC s September Student Employee of the Month! Robert has been a peer mentor since January During that time, Robert has excelled in this role. For the better part of August and almost all of September 2016, he was the only peer mentor and covered as much of the programing and peer mentor activities as he could do as a single person. In addition, he took the initiative to analyze data and produce survey reports about orientation. He created and implemented Orientation Part 2, which was very successful and one of the best attended programs we ve had. Robert is in charge of the VARC Newsletter and jumped in and agreed to work after hours so the VARC can remain open after hours. Robert has been invaluable to the peer mentoring program and to the VARC! Thank you and Congratulations, Robert!! SUPPORT STUDENT VETERANS OF AMERICA UCF CHAPTER AVAILABLE SOON! Shirts for sale! $15 each order yours today SVA.UCF@gmail.com Or stop by the VARC and JJ Johnson, VARC Program Coordinator

4 Program Name and Descrip on VETERANS CAREER & RESOURCE FAIR Central Florida Veterans! This is a collabora ve effort with UCF Career Services, Mission United, and the Orlando VA. Date/Time/ Place November 2 CFE Arena Venue 11:00 to 2:00 p.m. NOW OPEN! Veteran Food Pantry Sponsored by SVA Housed at the VARC SVA and the VARC are proud to present the Veteran Food Pantry! Similar to the Knight s Pantry located on campus, this Veteran Food pantry will supply students in need with food items to help them get by. It has been a major undertaking that we are happy to present to our students. The pantry will be open Monday through Friday during VARC Business Hours. However, the pantry will also be opening for two Saturdays each month. Stay tuned to this newsletter for updates on that. The pantry is donation based and as such is limited in what is can provide. With this in mind we ask that veterans wanting to utilize this new service only take around three days worth of food per visit. If you have any questions please do not hesitate to contact the VARC Front Desk. Marine Corps Emblem Donation This October UCF Communications and Marketing team member Sandy donated her large Marine Corps Emblem Print (30x43). The large emblem will soon be prominently displayed inside of the V.A.R.C. Please make sure to stop by and see this new addition to the V.A.R.C. décor.

5 Safe Family Friendly Halloween Events October 22nd 9 a.m. till 3 p.m. Zoo Boo Bash Central Florida Zoo October 23rd Noon till 3 p.m. Trick or Treat on Greek Street Greek Park Drive UCF October 31st 6 p.m. till 9 p.m. I Drive 360 Trick or Treating 8445 International Drive Orlando, FL VA Student Volunteer Program The VA is offering Volunteer opportunities in Health Care management and practice. If you are interested in participating please check the link: StudentProgram.asp