One of our success stories, Billy Stewart, comes to our program from a long career in the Army (20 ½ years) that ultimately led to his coming to Boise. It is not an exaggeration to say that the entire VUB staff is glad that he did. With a smile on his face and a smooth southern drawl, Billy brings more than just his love of the Auburn Tigers to our program.
Billy first began taking math classes at VUB in the summer of 2010, but after starting Boise State in the Fall of 2011, Billy has been giving back to his fellow classmates by taking on the role of a mentor/tutor. With his passion for history and journalism perfectly combined with his patient, easy-going nature, Billy has gone above and beyond anything we could have asked of him, helping other veterans in our program who struggle with what comes so naturally to him. It did not come as a surprise to his teachers, then, when Billy began to excel in his college courses and was asked to become a teaching assistant for his history professor. When I asked him about his educational goals, he replied, ―My educational goals are to attempt to excel in every class that I undertake… I guess I believe that since our government is paying for me to go to school, I should make every effort to succeed and not waste their money.
Billy is pursuing a double major in Political Science with an International Relations emphasis and Communications/English degree with a Journalism emphasis and plans to accomplish this within three years.
He has a few words of advice for his fellow servicemen and women: ―Strike while the iron is hot and ―There’s nothing to it but to do it!
We are so proud of Billy and all of his accomplishments, but his positive attitude and sense of humor are truly what makes him such a great member of our program.