How Student Veteran Katrina Bradley Found Community While Earning Social Work Degree
Show notes
Student veteran Katrina Bradley ’27 has dealt with her fair share of adversity, but instead of letting those obstacles knock her down, Bradley chooses to embrace a positive, can-do attitude. Bradley has gone from working on helicopters asan armament specialist in the U.S. Air Force to studying social work in the School of Education.
As she prepares to graduate in May, Bradley is focusedon helping others and plans to use the degree to either help fellow women service members who experienced trauma or support children who suffered trauma.
Social work is the ideal career path for Bradley, who, since transitioning from active duty to civilian life, has studied nursing and worked as a medical assistant and an emergency medical technician before going back to school.
“I’ve always been interested in helping others, and as I was [transitioning] out of the Air Force, I wanted to find a careerwhere I could give back,” says Bradley, a Syracuse native. “I’m planning to go for my master's degree and then hopefully get licensed. Eventually, I want to start up my own nonprofit organization.”
Bradley comes from a long line of veterans in her family; her great-grandfather served in World War I, her grandfather served in World War II, her father served in the Navy during the Vietnam War and her brother served in the Air Force during Operation Iraqi Freedom. As she navigates the path to a bachelor’s degree, Bradley says she’s made the most ofthe opportunities afforded to her by the University, which has built a longstanding reputation as one of the best places for veterans.
“I’m thankful for the veterans group and the different veterans organizations. If I reach out and ask for help in our group chat or have a problem, somebody's willing to speak up and help you with that,” Bradley says. “It's such a great community that I don't know what I would do without the veterans in the group. They've all been so helpful. We've got each other's backs when we need it.”
On a Veterans Day-themed episode of the “’CuseConversations” podcast, Bradley reflects on the University’s commitment to veterans and military-connected students and shares why she loves being involved and giving back to her fellow veterans on campus.