Cody T. Sedano, a liberal arts and political science major, attributes his success as both the student trustee for Fresno City College and a state-level student senator to the new Veterans Resource Center.

Sedano, a veteran, recalls being discharged from the military on a Friday and starting school at FCC the following Monday.

“I only wanted to hang out with veterans. Everyone else was just, you know, it was odd going from one day being in the Marines and then a couple days later, being in class,” Sedano said.

He said being involved with the Veterans Resource Center has given him a more thorough understanding of “veterans’ educational benefits.” Now, he wants to “go to the next level and help other veterans across the state.”

Presently, Sedano’s college experience is on track to help him reach his goal of being elected to the city council for the city of Fresno. He said he benefits from the counseling, advising, tutorials and camaraderie all under one roof in the Veterans Resource Center at Fresno City College.

Like Sedano, several veterans spoke glowingly about what the center means to them, particularly for enabling them to feel more connected with their peers.

Now, at the end of its first year in the new facility, the 2,200-square-foot space in Building A has provided veterans a supercenter of sorts — a place to receive assistance with tutoring, mentoring, counseling or just to connect with other veterans.

Over the last year, the Veterans Center has helped more than 700 veterans apply for and receive benefits for school. For the spring 2016 semester, approximately 350 student veterans are able to pursue their education with the assistance provided by the center.

Prior to January of last year, the Veterans Center shared a small room with the International Students Center in the Student Services Building.

This year, the new space has provided room for staff to work with students much more closely.

The center provides computers, conference rooms as well as experienced veterans to guide students to reach their life goals.

Mary Alfieris, the coordinator of veterans services, said she is honored to be able to help students achieve their ambitions.

“The staff who work in the Veterans Resource Center are all veterans, so they understand the heartbeat of the veterans, their needs, their feelings,” Alfieris said. “They get paid by the federal government to serve fellow veterans. So it’s a beautiful thing.”

Interim President, Cynthia Azari said she is extremely proud of all the Veterans Center’s achievements over the last year.

Azari said she was pleased to know that FCC is able to provide for the “unique needs” of veterans. “We want to serve all of our students,” she said.

Brian Moreland, a philosophy major, started his collegiate journey in the spring of 2015 in the Veterans Center.

“It makes a lot of complicated things much easier to understand and to deal with, coming through the Veterans Center,” Moreland said. He will graduate with his transfer degree at the end of the spring semester of 2016.

“I recommend that all veterans would come here,” Moreland said. “Come to the Veterans Center, and they will sit down and explain everything to you. They will give you everything you need.”

According to Alfieris and many veterans interviewed for this story, the Veterans Center continues to improve.

This year, the center is working on improving contact with its students and developing a Facebook page and improving its website. The staff is hoping to bring speakers from outside resources like the VA hospital, Employment Development Center and the Small Business Administration.

Alfieris said the staff is also hoping to obtain a printer so students can print their papers as well as some display cases to show off veterans’ uniforms.

Mario Reposo, a veteran and a counselor in the Veterans Center has personal experience with different types of benefits for students. He encourages all student veterans to come into the center and discover what is available.

“If you don’t know about it,” Reposo said, “it doesn’t exist.”