John Garlets

John Garlets's younger self may be surprised to learn he has finished the Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences (BAAS) and is heading to graduate school next year. "Growing up, education wasn't something that was taken seriously," John says. Instead of a place to prepare for his future, school was a means for John to cope with the present. "I didn't have a great environment to go home to every day. Education was just an avenue for me to get away from abuse and to get a meal," he shares.

John persevered through high school and was recruited to run cross-country at a small liberal arts college in western Pennsylvania. He started to develop an interest in social activism, but he struggled to thrive academically and left the school after several semesters. For the next few years, John foundered, working odd jobs and couch surfing. He knew he had to make a change. "I told myself I was going to join the military," he says. John put thoughts of pursuing a degree out of mind and joined the US Navy.

After five years of service, the Navy would put him in the right place at the right time for a transformational meeting. In 2017 he was stationed in Philadelphia where he would meet his wife, Linlin. "She reintroduced me to the power behind an education," John says. She had just finished her master's degree in education at Penn and was starting a PhD program at Temple University. "She's originally from China, and I respected her decision to leave her home and go abroad and try to create a life here. Giving up what you know to go to another country, not being a native speaker—it must be daunting, to say the least. She definitely inspired me," he remembers.

With his wife's support, John began to look into his options for returning to school. Veteran Affairs put him in touch with the Penn LPS Director of Undergraduate Programs Kathy Urban. She told John about the Warrior-Scholar Project, a nonprofit that prepares service members to transition to college and partners with Penn to hold academic boot camps. "Kathy encouraged me to do the program. She told me it would set me up for success, whether I ended up at Penn or at another institution."  

Not long after John finished the boot camp, he was stationed in Baltimore, where he decided to enroll in an on-campus undergraduate program. When the pandemic shut down most of his school's course offerings, John reached out to Kathy again for advice. She recommended he apply to the Penn LPS Online BAAS. "At first it was intimidating. I was scared," he admits, "but Kathy reassured me. She said, 'you got this,' and I took a chance."

John devoted himself to the personal statement portion of his LPS application, using some of the critical writing skills he learned with Warrior-Scholars. "I argued that I had turned myself around academically, I'd started to accomplish things, and that Penn LPS could help me accomplish more—which the program certainly has."

Two years later, while continuing to serve full time, John finished his bachelor's degree with a Concentration in Literature, Culture, and Tradition and a Certificate in Creative Writing. He describes the program delivery as "lightyears ahead" of online courses at other schools. "At Penn, the professors always had their doors open and encouraged us to reach out to them and engage with each other," he says. Discussion and healthy discourse were encouraged in the classroom. His advisor was accessible and helped him stay on track, too. When he shared his Penn experience with colleagues in other online programs, they could hardly believe him. "I'd tell them that sometimes I would go eat lunch in my car and just Zoom my professor because I didn't understand something, and they'd say, 'That never happens for any of my courses.' So, I think the Penn approach is more personal."

John also found the curriculum's reflection exercises to be invaluable. "The senior portfolio let me step back and think about why a professor assigned a reading, and it let me reflect on my own life," he recalls. While studying Tommy Pico's "Nature Poem," for example, John remembers thinking, "Wow, this individual does not want to be placed in a box. The writer discusses how he is something totally different than what our eyes perceive him to be. My self-reflection piece made me think about all of the individuals and communities that are placed within a box and assumed to be something they probably are not," he says.

Succeeding in his bachelor's program allowed John to revisit a childhood dream. "I always wanted to be a social worker," he shares. With recommendations from two of his LPS professors, John was accepted into the Master of Social Work program at Penn's School of Social Policy and Practice (SP2). "I was floored when I got the acceptance letter and the scholarship offer from SP2," he says. The scholarship, along with John's remaining GI Bill® benefits and Yellow Ribbon Program funds, will cover his graduate school costs. After John separates from the military, he and Linlin will return to the Philadelphia area for John to start grad school in fall 2023.

Reflecting on his personal experiences, John is grateful for the support he found along the way. As a social worker, he plans to lend support to others to help them thrive. "I managed to adapt and overcome. It took me a little bit longer than some people, but I'm here now, so I want to give back to the next generation—to let them know it's OK to ask for help; it's OK if you trip or fall. You can always get back up and keep fighting."

"GI Bill®" is a registered trademark of the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).