After serving in the U.S. Army for 15 years and at age 46, Clay Young knew he wasn’t the typical college student when he arrived at Missouri S&T to earn his degree.

A soldier’s start

Young, now 49 years old, is from Steelville, Missouri, and graduated from high school in 1995. He had already signed his military contract when he graduated. Within weeks, he went to Fort Benning, Georgia, for basic training as an infantry soldier, then completed airborne school. Later he completed air assault school at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.

“For the layperson’s terms, I professionally got paid to jump out of planes and rappel out of helicopters,” he says.

Young served three years on active duty before a knee injury forced him to step away temporarily. After meeting his wife and starting a family, he joined the Army Reserve in 2001. 

Two years later, following the Sept. 11 attacks, his unit was called. Young served in Iraq from November 2003 to February 2005.

During his military career, Young knew he always wanted to get a college degree. He came to S&T through the Veteran Readiness and Employment (VR&E) program and began taking online classes in summer 2023 for electrical and computer engineering.

“My thought was to go big or go home,” he says. “Go for a powerful degree, do the best I can and make the most out of my experience coming here.”

A tough transition

He says the transition to attending classes on campus that fall was challenging. His course load included classes in algebra, chemistry and engineering design. 

The workload was tough, considering a health issue that made the semester even more difficult. That semester, he was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes.

“You can imagine sitting in a lecture hall with a couple hundred other students and trying to focus on class when your body doesn’t want to cooperate,” he says.

Feeling overwhelmed, he began withdrawing from some of his courses and considered whether he should continue as a student at S&T. But that’s when a fellow veteran on campus noticed his struggles, and started talking to him after class.

“He came up and asked, ‘Hey, are you doing all right? What’s going on?’” Young says. “He was former Army too.”

Veterans helping veterans

That conversation led Young to the university’s Military and Veterans Service Center, where he met staff members and became involved with the Student Veterans of America (SVA) chapter. They also helped Young switch his major to information science and technology, and he feels it’s a much better fit.

“It still has a technological base. I understand it better and I’ve been thriving a little bit better there,” he says. “The engineering path wasn’t for me.”

Young credits the SVA chapter for his perseverance as an S&T student.

“If that conversation hadn’t happened, I probably would have dropped out,” he says. “There is a veterans community at S&T that we hold onto here that was instilled with us when we went through our training. I found my people.”

Last spring, Young became president of S&T’s Student Veterans of America chapter. 

“Being president, I have tried to push the SVA forward and create initiatives to help push a better understanding for faculty, staff and students when it comes to veterans on campus,” he says.

One of those initiatives is called the “Green Zone,” in which Young delivers campus presentations  to inform individuals about military culture, ROTC students and veterans at S&T.

“We go over hiccups and bumps in the road that veterans experience when they come to campus,” he says. “Working with the Air Force and Army ROTC leaders, we also explain what cadets’ responsibilities look like, including their rank structure and the additional commitments they have along their classes. The goal is to help faculty and staff better understand those experiences and be able to support them.”

Ideally, Young would like to continue the classes once a month. He has been able to host a couple since October 2025 during Mental Health Awareness Week.

“Missouri S&T is a top school for a reason. I’m not trying to get professors to ease up on the curriculum or back off assignments. That’s not the goal,” he says. “The goal is understanding. If an ROTC cadet or a veteran comes to a professor and says they’re having issues, I want there to be an open door — a response that says, ‘Let’s talk about it. And if you’d rather speak with someone else, I can help connect you with the right resources.’ The idea is to cast a wider net so veterans and ROTC students and veterans don’t slip through the cracks.”

Becoming a Purple Heart University

As SVA president, Young aspired for S&T to become a Purple Heart University. After six months of pushing the designation, S&T earned that status and it was celebrated during halftime of the Military Appreciation football game in November.

“It helps promote that S&T is military-friendly,” he says. “We have all these veteran programs. We have a great veterans center. Being a Purple Heart University helps not only with recruitment for veterans, especially being close to Fort Leonard Wood, it helps with recruitment and retention and says we’re committed to our veteran students and ROTC cadets.”

Young says a few friends overseas in Iraq earned the Purple Heart honor, including one friend who was killed in the line of duty. 

“For me, S&T getting the Purple Heart University designation helps honor them as well,” he says. “And it shows the veteran students here that they’re not on their own. There is a community here. We’ve got your back.”

Serving in a new way

Once he graduates, Young hopes to return to federal service in a business-related role. He previously worked as a civilian employee for the U.S. Department of Defense while serving in the Army Reserve, but when his Reserve career ended, so did his position. 

For now, Young says his goal is simple: pursue a stable career serving the public.

“The ideal job placement for me, with what I’m doing now and learning now, would be to get into some type of business role with the federal government moving forward,” he says. “I don’t have a specific title yet, but I’d like a position in which  I can build a career and not have to worry about finances.”

Before he graduates, he wants to continue being an impactful SVA president and continue reaching out to other veterans on campus. 

S&T’s Military & Veterans Service Center is located at 605 West 11th Street in Rolla.  Any veteran is welcome to walk in anytime.

“If you’re a veteran at S&T, you’re not on your own. There is help if you need it, and there is community,” Young says. “It’s probably my big legacy to leave behind. Because like I said, if it wasn’t for the SVA and veterans center here, I wouldn’t be at S&T right now.”