You’ve served your nation and now you’re home. Along with thousands of returning veterans each year, you’re faced with the same question — what’s next? An exciting career could be the answer!

Herzing student Carey Martell shares a few tips she learned in the Navy that are helping her through nursing school.

Why did I join the Navy? I often get asked this question, and for the longest time, I wasn’t sure how to respond. I have learned throughout my five and a half years of serving exactly why I love doing what I do. It is an honor to be able to say I am serving in the military. I want to protect my friends and family and travel the world.

Military veterans have a lot of relevant experience to share after their service to the country is over, and many of them are choosing a career in nursing to help meet growing demand.

Nursing has always been Sue Berto’s passion, and serving in the military allowed her to make a difference in more ways than she could have imagined.

Now, as a nursing instructor at Herzing University-Kenosha, she enjoys the opportunity to help her students find their path to a rewarding nursing career.

My name is Sue Berto, and I am an RN, MSN and full-time nursing professor at Herzing University in Kenosha, Wisconsin. My nursing career began in 1974 when I obtained my LPN. I later earned my ADN and BSN as well as my MSN in Nursing Education. Prior to joining the Herzing faculty in May 2014, I received an Army Accommodation Medal for my work as a nurse in Operation Desert Storm.

Though it has been nearly 30 years since I wore a military uniform in the U.S. Army’s 534th MP unit at Fort Clayton in the Panama Canal Zone, some days it seems almost like yesterday. I am very proud of my service as an NCO and thankful for the friends and mentors that I met along the way. Recently, I had an opportunity to complete a tandem jump with the U.S. Army Golden Knights, and I must say that as an Army veteran, it does not get much better than that.