From Geoff Roberts, Military Program Coordinator, Bowling Green State University: “Josh is one of our most dependable students from our most impressive team of work-study students we are blessed to have in Nontraditional and Military Student Services at BGSU. Josh was instrumental in the success of the office over the summer. When I joined the NTMSS team at the tail end of summer break, Josh was always present and extremely helpful to my transition to managing PAVE.

At the beginning of Fall 2023, Josh had a caseload larger than ideal, about two times larger than is typical, and completed all initial outreach flawlessly. His willingness to rise to the challenge helped us to provide lighter caseloads to a new team member transitioning to PAVE and to a team member returning after a year in Syria. He serves admirably as a Forward Observer in the Ohio Army National Guard. He maintains a perfect balance between military and civilian lives and is incredibly adept at managing these competing priorities. Josh displays an unwavering commitment to his duties as a Peer Advisor, and he goes about his business with an admirable sense of ethics. Josh provides a model for his peers and younger students at BGSU to follow to ultimate success.”

From Anthony Alessio, Team Leader, Bowling Green University: “Josh has been with PAVE since last fall of 2022. Since then, Josh has contributed much to the program. Josh is a tremendous team player and an excellent leader. He is reliable and always gets the job done when asked. He has contributed many great ideas to newsletters sent out to our military students, including information from his own personal perspective that he wished he would have known being a new military college student. He also excels in making calls not only to students in the PAVE program but in our office as well. Helping students come out to the office to connect one-on-one with staff members. He creates a welcoming and safe environment not only for students, but also for Peer Advisors and staff members in the office.”

From Joshua Tinney: “My favorite part about being a Peer Advisor is facilitating quality interactions and knowing that you are making a positive difference in the military-affiliated student population. I think the best thing we can do as Peer Advisors is stress the important dates and events while tailoring to the needs of each individual student. Knowing the solutions to problems presented is important, and further being able to seek guidance for that student if you don’t have the solution is equally crucial.”