Timothy P. Arrington, Sr., served in the U.S. Army for six years. Now, he serves the student veterans of Hillsborough Community College as a Veteran Student Affairs counselor.
After the Army, he worked jobs in construction and even a few years with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA). Eventually, he found himself moving to Florida and enrolling as a student at the HCC Dale Mabry Campus in 2010, where he would graduate with an AA in computer information systems.
From 2010 to 2012, Tim held a work-study position with the HCC Office of Veteran Student Affairs. As his connection with the staff and fellow student veterans grew, he knew it would be an easy fit if ever a staff position opened up.
In April 2013, he was hired as a full-time records specialist for the HCC Office of Veteran Student Affairs. After a few years in the role, he was promoted to Veteran Student Affairs counselor.
When asked why he has continued his career at HCC he said, “I’m invested here. I know first-hand what it’s like to be a student at HCC, the good and the bad. My goal was and continues to be to make sure veterans enrolling experience only the best parts of the College.”
When looking back at when he was a student, Tim recognizes that the veteran affairs staff were “locked behind doors in admissions and you only communicated with them over email.”
“Since then, HCC has done a great job of working hand in hand with our office and removing the stigma surrounding veterans.
If there’s ever a student who is having issues, we encourage the deans and the faculty to reach out to us so we can provide them with the support they need. A few years back we had a vet who was suicidal and living in Hawks Landing. Once we were contacted, we were able to get him the help he needed.
In the military, no matter how bad things get, you have your brothers and sisters to the left and right of you. When you’re knee high in mud, you know you’re not alone. Through the Office of Veteran Student Affairs and the Student Veterans Organization, we let our students know, ‘Listen, this is new, but you're not by yourself. If you need help, we are here to be your network of support.’”
Today, Dale Mabry, Brandon and Ybor City Campuses all have veteran affairs offices. While Plant City and SouthShore don’t have a veteran affairs person on campus, Tim assures the staff is more than happy to do Zoom or phone appointments with those students. “If there is ever a time where a vet will say, ‘Listen, I really need to speak with you in person,’ we’ll go to the campus,” he says.
Tim is also a proud founding member of the current Student Veterans Organization (SVO) on the Dale Mabry Campus and served as both secretary and vice-president while he was a student.
In 2010, the Student Veterans Organization at the time was being shut down. Tim, along with a few other student veterans, approached now retired faculty member and then Student Government Association (SGA) advisor, Ken Turley, and said, “Listen, we can't speak for what happened before us, but we can speak on what will happen after us. If you let us redeem ourselves, you won't have any issues.”
When the club was given permission to restart, HCC sociology professor, Walter Ellis, served as the original SVO advisor. “Walt wasn’t a veteran, but he was a great support. He helped us grow into what the SVO is.”
A year or two after the SVO restarted, the club joined the non-profit organization, Student Veterans of America, as an official chapter.
When Tim became a full-time HCC employee, he took on the responsibility of serving as the new SVO advisor. But he gladly says, “To this day, Walt still helps us out and participates with us.”
“The SVO is a community, service-based group that focuses on work within the veteran community. For those who don’t know, when you are in the military, you pick up trash a lot. So, you aren't going to find us planning a clean-up day,” he laughed.
“In the past, we’ve worked with Homes for Heroes who give disabled veterans new homes. We get together with a huge group of other veterans, and as a team, we do everything from painting to laying down sod.”
Over the years, the SVO has also hosted a care package drive for deployed soldiers, participated in the James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital Veterans Day parade and visited local elementary schools to tell their stories while also pushing for the importance of an education.
In the past few years, the SVO has also lobbied for student veteran lounges. The veteran lounge on the Dale Mabry Campus has been officially open for around two or three years while the Brandon Campus lounge recently opened in spring 2020.
Before the official opening of the Dale Mabry Campus veterans lounge, Tim explained that when the Dale Mabry Office of Veteran Student Affairs was located on the third floor of the library, the office waiting room was the unofficial veterans lounge.
“Veterans knew that they could come in and find a safe place. I remember we had one veteran, who was older, come in and explain he had heart issues. He would come in and relax because he knew that if anything ever happened, we would know how to help.
With the new lounges, vets can come in, let down their guard and be themselves. If you look at the big picture, we are a commuter school and students might want to take a quick nap in between classes. Most veterans don’t feel comfortable taking a nap in the SGA lounges where students might be making loud noises that could be triggering. In the veteran lounges, no matter what happens, everyone has walked the same path as you and knows how to handle certain situations.”
Both lounges are equipped with a few kitchen items, TV and computers and are fully furnished by Ashley Furniture.
Tim encourages student veterans to take advantage of all the opportunities at HCC.
“When students come to my office, I remind them that they are paying to be here so they might as well get the full experience. Go see what clubs are out there. You might find that the SVO isn't what you need but rather SGA, the soccer club or even the dental hygiene club is where your interest is. Find something that you’re focused in and enjoy it. If you're struggling with classes, use our resources. The tutoring centers are great, but they aren’t going to help you if you don’t go. If you are taking at least nine credit hours and using your GI Bill, look into work-study positions within our office.”
“I want veterans to know, ‘Yes, I know it’s scary to go back to school.’ But it won’t be as bad as you think. If you got through the military, you can get through this too.
I love my job; I don’t do it for the pay. I do it because it allows me to help others in a way that I needed to be helped when I was a student. When I see someone walk across the stage with a veteran’s sash on, that’s my payment. I look at them and I know I helped them transition from being a soldier to being a college graduate.”
For more information about the Office of Veteran Student Affairs or the Student Veteran Organization, you can contact Tim Arrington at tarrington3@hccfl.edu