“I had my GI Bill, but my whole life was shaken once I got injured. If the military had allowed me to stay, the best I could have done was a desk job, which I didn’t want,” said Sasser. He returned to his hometown of Casper, where his family and girlfriend helped him get his feet back on the ground. He decided that he wanted to go back to school with the goal of eventually earning a bachelor’s degree.

“Casper College was the perfect choice for me,” said Sasser. He remembered his time at the university, where he took both in-class and online classes. Sasser found that Casper College delivered quality in-person and online classes, and he enjoyed the smaller classes at Casper. “Casper College is great,” he said.

Sasser also found the veterans program at CC helpful. “[The veteran services coordinator] made it really easy for vets to get back into college, take advantage of the GI Bill, sign up for classes, and earn a degree,” said Sasser.

When he first began at CC, Sasser focused on the associate degree in construction management. He switched to an Associate of Science degree in general studies when he realized he needed that degree to qualify for the University of Wyoming at Casper’s Bachelor of Applied Science degree in organizational leadership.

The organizational leadership degree was the perfect fit for Sasser; the classes he took online and in person helped him with communication, organization, and leadership. All of Sasser’s in-person classes took place either at Casper College or at the University of Wyoming at Casper’s location in the Union/University building on the CC campus.

“There is a real sense of community at Casper College, just a bunch of people who want to help you,” Sasser said. “I was taken back by the support available to veterans and nontraditional students trying to achieve their higher education goals at Casper College and how diverse these students were. I was able to meet a lot of other veterans,” he added.

Sasser took advantage of all the resources available to him at Casper College and urges others to do the same. “I used the resources from the administrative side to navigate and on down to the educational level, including the library and math lab. The educators at Casper College were truly there to help the students and helped me get through college,” he noted.

Sasser has some advice to both veterans and nontraditional students: “Get your foot in the door, and don’t be afraid to ask for help.”