Members of the Student Veterans Organization (SVO) always assist each other when it's needed. Whether it's helping with homework, painting a picture as a gift for a fellow SVO member's spouse or providing hurricane relief, sophomore and U.S. Marine Michael Bearth is always ready to lend a helping hand.

Bearth first attended Wichita State in 2005 as an art major, but enlisted in 2006. He came back to campus in 2015 and started in a new major, mechanical engineering.

Bearth is a peer advisor for the Wichita State Peer Advisors for Veteran Education (PAVE) program. He helps first-year military students learn how to use their G.I. bill, apply for financial aid and gives tours of campus.

Bearth wanted to do even more to help his fellow veterans, so this past fall he ran for the Student Government Association position of veteran senator and was unanimously voted in on Sept. 20, 2017.

“I'm kind of like the liaison between the SVO and the SGA,” says Bearth. “I represent active duty, veterans and military dependents.”

Bearth ran for this position because he is good with people and loves to help out his fellow military Shockers. He wants to fairly represent the military on campus by bringing the SVO mentality to SGA meetings and hopes to be seen as a fair and trustworthy senator.

In order to represent the military students on campus, including the approximate 40 percent who don't use the Military and Veteran Student Center, Bearth researches the issue and implores students to have discussions with him about their concerns before a vote. He also occasionally uses polls to get the general idea, but he much prefers to talk about the issues face to face.

“I believe a conversation solves more things than an argument,” says Bearth. “That way I can say, ‘You make your own decision, but here are all the facts.'”

Bearth joined the Student Veterans Organization halfway through his first semester back from deployment.

“I went to my advisor to ask for some help on a few issues I was having,” says Bearth. “He took me over to the SVO and showed me what all they could do for me. It was easy to feel right at home when I got there.”

Bearth knew he had found a place of comfort when he realized he didn't have to censor himself around his comrades. Everyone understood his abbreviations and military terms because they had used them in their own experiences.

Bearth plans to graduate in 2019 and hopes to land an internship with NASA this upcoming summer to gain engineering experience. When his time is over at WSU, he hopes to leave behind a positive legacy not only as a member of the SGA, but as an advocate for student veterans.

---