Larry Cleman knows that you’re never too old to learn something new.
Which could explain why the 57-year-old veteran is going back to school for his master’s degree in January. He currently works as the program coordinator for the Veteran and Military Support Center, which he says is the best job he’s ever had. That’s saying a lot considering how many different jobs the Navy veteran had over his career.
“I believe in life-long learning,” Cleman says of continuing his education.
As a Navy vet who spent 26 years traveling the world, switching rates and discovering new interests, it is easy to see Cleman is a man excited by life. At 18 he joined. He turned 19 in boot camp. After a four year tour, he got out and went to nursing school. A four year nursing stint changed his mind, and he decided that the Navy was a better choice. While in, he worked as an electronics tech, non-designated striker, interior communications electrician and then as a cryptologist. At one point, he also worked as a recruiter, telling people “what an honest day in the Navy was.” From 1983 up until his retirement, he worked in anti-terrorism and intelligence realm for the rest of his career.
“My favorite part (of the Navy) was working with the people,” he says. “Really smart people.”
His travels have taken him from Washington to Japan, and to places as warm as Florida and as cold as Connecticut. His wife, Dru, a former Marine, also has joined her husband in pursuit of higher education. Dru Cleman’s father — a three-war veteran — retired from the military and went back to school to be a teacher, which proved to her the importance of education.
“Education is the way to get knowledge,” says the former Marine. “You gotta keep your brain sharp. It’s never too late to go back or get a second degree or whatever you want to do.”
The couple is also known as “overachievers” on campus when it comes to class work and dedications, she says.
When Larry Cleman retired in August 2005, he found that he kept some of the same routines he had when he was in the military. At first, he found himself running six miles a day and doing “all the fun stuff” that had been drilled into his mindset. He took a “hiatus” and did some work in Idaho before settling back into the Pacific Northwest where he started on an online degree in college administration and leadership.
After interning at Olympic College for his bachelor’s degree requirements, he was hired on to work with veterans on a daily basis. Much of his routines at the center are built around schedules he set for himself in the military. On a typical morning, Cleman walks into the center before any other staff members do.
“I come in bright and early ‘cause I’m military,” he says with a hint of pride.
He gets the coffee brewing, and by 7:30 a.m., his first work-study student comes in for some academic help. The center — where American flags and splashes of red, white and blue fill the room — is a kind of sanctuary for veterans looking to relax or study.
The center also has tutors on site to assist in math and English, Cleman says. It also acts as a hub for activities to bring diverse groups together to experience fellowship, like potlucks. The veteran gatherings are good for the students, says Cleman, because some aren’t used to being socialized in a setting other than the military. Yet, Cleman has also reached out into the depths of society to homeless veterans to encourage college enrollment.
“We’ve had several success stories,” he says of homeless vets making it through school. Cleman offers information at the Retsil Veterans Home to homeless vets interested in going back to school. He tells them how to enroll, shows them how to apply for financial aid and what benefits they have as former military members.
Cleman realizes how hard it is for homeless students to make it through school. He’s seen some sleep in cars right on campus. The vets will shower in the gym, and then they come into the Veteran and Military Support Center for a hot cup of coffee and some goodies brought in by staff or fellow students.
“It’s sad, but they know it’s a chance to get away from that,” he says.
As a way to give a helping hand up, Cleman utilizes his knowledge of computers and electronics to refurbish desktop computers to give to vets in need. Family and friends donate their old computers to Cleman who in turn fixes the hard drives and updates the computer to be “fully functional.”
The pieces of computers won’t be found inside the center, but take up an entire room in the Cleman household.
“I have a room my wife hates,” he says with a laugh.
It is his generosity and dedication to students that landed him a job with the college in the first place, reasons Dianna Larsen, dean of enrollment services and registrar at Olympic College. Larsen has seen the difference her employee has made in the lives of students on campus.
“I’m extremely grateful (for him),” says Larsen. “The students that need technology and having it in their home makes a big difference in their educational opportunities. They can take online classes which they couldn’t do if they didn’t have a computer.”
Larsen, a Navy brat, understands the commitment Cleman has made inside the military, and sees that same commitment in his interactions with students.
“He’s been in the military; he’s helped sailors in the past and he’s continuing (on that) that level. We have so many vets and active military attending this institution,” she says. “I don’t think we could have selected a better person for this particular position. He has the wisdom of being a student and knowing what that kind of study takes. He applies that to the students and their everyday life.”