Grand Valley Magazine Summer 2014 - (Page 30)

very surreal. Schwartz was to my left and I just remember thinking, we just spent six months in Afghanistan and there's my best bud and he's A-OK." After ﬁve years, Eichholz had the opportunity to stay in the Marine Corps, but knew he had to pursue his passion of writing. His ﬁrst semester at Grand Valley was in the winter of 2014. While it can be challenging to take classes with students who are more youthful and haven't had some of the same experiences as he has, Eichholz said the Marine Corps prepared him to succeed at Grand Valley. "I was über excited to start taking classes," he said. "A Marine's motto is 'honor, courage and commitment,' and I've carried those values into my classes." This summer, he worked with the Ofﬁce of Student Life to write stories for the "Do Something Guide," a magazine that provides ﬁrst-hand experiences of students at Grand Valley. Tiffany Kim, a veteran of the Marines, served as a field radio operator for four years in five countries. photos by Amanda Pitts TIFFANY KIM Tiffany Kim always had an urge to serve her country. The Caledonia native joined the Marine Corps in 2008 and served as a ﬁeld radio operator (FRO) for four years in Japan, Australia, Uganda, Thailand and North Carolina. As a FRO, she learned about the importance of clear communications and served as a technical expert in radio communications. "There are a variety of ﬁeld radios, such as handheld, ones mounted on Humvees, and ones that are carried on backpacks. I had to understand each one and know how to communicate with people from different cultures and backgrounds," said Kim. The criminal justice major also spent six months in Djibouti, a country in eastern Africa, where she was a mission commander for two missions that had the objective of training 750 Djiboutian soldiers. "The soldiers were training for deployment to Somalia to combat the Al-Shabaab, a terrorist group afﬁliated with Al-Qaida. I taught them how to properly use radio communications and trained the nine female soldiers on tactical maneuvers," said Kim. Kim plans to pursue law school after 30 Summer '14

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Grand Valley Magazine Summer 2014

Table of Contents
Campus News
Fall Arts Celebration
Athletics
Donor Impact
Sustainability
Research
Q&A Karen Gipson
A seat at the table
Students dig program
Deployment to enrollment
Seeing double
Off the path
Arts
Alumni News

Grand Valley Magazine Summer 2014