From Bryan Bills, Veteran Services Coordinator, Bowling Green State University: “This will be Anthony’s last semester here with us at BGSU. He is currently serving as the Team Leader for our PAVE team. He has done an outstanding job during his time here. As I am transitioning into the VSC position, he is constantly keeping me updated with what he’s doing for the team with no instruction or prompt to do so. The transition is going phenomenally because of his efforts. He is emailing the team consistently with information about organizing team meetings, biweekly reporting, reviewing logs, and sending reminders for time sheets.

In addition, he is actively training a new Advisor and the new Team Leader during his last semester. The new Advisor is a dependent, just like Anthony himself. He has essentially taken her under his wing and helped her through logs and making outreach communications. The new Team Leader is being expertly guided into making biweekly reports and organizing team meetings moving forward. It is bittersweet seeing Anthony move on and preparing for graduation. He will be hard to replace, but he will be a huge asset to the dental field. We have leaned on Anthony heavily, and he has answered our call.”

From Anthony Alessio: “My favorite part about being Team Leader is being able to watch each of my team members grow with their capabilities and their knowledge both as a leader and a mentor to our students. I like knowing that I am actively making a change within our office on campus that can cultivate an environment for our students to come out and learn and grow. The most rewarding part of being TL is working with my fellow peers who I have become really close with and rely on to make our team a team. I am proud of the BGSU PAVE team for accomplishing many things since I’ve been Team Leader. I am proud of my team for always being mindful of each other and their PAVE students and always looking to help when our team and their students may be struggling. They are diligent and dedicated to their work and always know how to take their time and make the students’ transition from the military or their first time using benefits a smoother process. They always make the office a lively space for the students and our PAVE mentors, and I could not be prouder.”