Because of the success of The College Success Bootcamp and my first book, The Student Leadership Guide, I’m lucky to receive thousands of emails each month from students around the country. This month I noticed a startling pattern in emails I received from older students, many of whom were military members planning on heading back to school. The pattern? An overwhelming sense of fear or insecurity about attending college.

Let’s take this head on. There are only three things military members need to know about going to or back to college in order to blast through the fear.

First and foremost, if you’ve survived and thrived in the military you can and will excel in college. Period. Never forget that you are one of our nation’s elite servicemembers. You have already received world-class military training. Training that is much more focused, demanding, and difficult than anything you’ll ever face in college. Walk on to campus with your head held high. Take it from me: You’re an advanced learner and you have already succeeded. You are highly trained and you are one of our nation’s heroes. Never forget that.

Second, realize that a college education is just a different type of training. The good news is that compared to your military training, college is easier and there is a lot less at stake. Why do I say that? Because in college you’re on a semester or quarterly system. It's easier because there is more time for you to learn a subject, up to four months on a semester system. (I’m sure you remember how fast you had to learn everything in the military. That’s not the case in college).

In addition, there is more room for trial-and-error and failure in school. If you screw up in the military it affects your career, your teammates, and possibly the lives of your fellow Americans. In college, if you mess up on an exam you have two or three more tests or opportunities to raise your grade and get things back on track. Bottom line: You can handle a college education because you’ve handled more difficult things in your life – you just have to have the guts to jump in.

That leads me to the third point. Ultimately, as FDR taught us, the only thing we have to fear is fear itself. Your fear about attending college is likely tied to a fear that you won’t succeed. In fact, the fear of failure keeps more potential students from attending college than any other factor measured, including financial considerations.

To help you handle this feeling, let me ask you a simple and practical question: Do you think a university that desperately needs your tens of thousands of dollars each year is going to let you fail in college? No way, not if you ask for help. Today, there are more resources, programs and people on college campuses dedicated to help students learn, develop, and stay in school than any time in history. If you are honest and brave enough to ask for help, you will get it. Professors, specifically, enjoy few things more than helping students learn and succeed. Leverage that. Use these professors and the abundant number of on-campus programs available to help you figure it out, try it out, and knock it out.

College itself is not a scary thing. That’s why we have movies like Animal House. The truth is today’s college experience is more engaging and empowering than it has ever been. Look forward to it, remember how far you’ve come, and take comfort in knowing that if you need help you can always get it quickly and easily. Now that doesn’t sound so scary, does it?

Next Step
If your ready to meet the challenge of college head-on, your next step should be to get free college enrollment information. Visit the Military.com School Finder to find a school that offers the flexibility an adult student needs.