A veteran's transition from military life to civilian life can have its challenges. Add those challenges to the life of a college student, and sometimes, life can be a little overwhelming.
Veterans tend to rely on good leadership to provide the guidance and mentoring needed to tackle life's challenges and Auburn University's student veterans have no better leader and mentor than Auburn's former women's golf coach, Kim Evans.
"Coach Evans is one of the most compassionate and caring people I have ever met," said Kyle Venable, president of Auburn's Student Veterans Association.
"There are two things that she is extremely passionate about: Auburn University and veterans. Because of her lifelong ties to both, the ASVA has benefited immensely from her talents in golf. So many of us vets have now learned a lifetime sport, which has many benefits on and off the course, and the most important thing is that we have a lifelong friend in Coach," he said.
Coach Evans was diagnosed with cancer and had to walk away after 21 years of coaching. Winning the fight against cancer, Evans wanted to give back to the university she loves so much.
"As a cancer survivor I made a decision in my life to walk away from coaching to spend more time concentrating on health, a proper diet, and a stress-free life," Evans said.
"I was able to go to work for the office of student affairs under Dr. Bobby Woodard, and he has monthly meetings that address the needs of the university," she said. "Through that, he and I talked about how our students could benefit from an executive golf class.
"That day I met a member of the ASVA. We started talking and I thought this would be great for our student vets," she said. "From there, I came over to the VRC, put together a program that went great and "Puck" Esposito gave me an office and away we went."
"Coach Evans is the most dedicated and resourceful supporter of Auburn's student veterans that we have at the university today," said Paul "Puck" Esposito, Director of Auburn's Veterans Resource Center.
"There is no project she will not undertake, and there is no activity she will not support if it is for the benefit of the student vets. She is a tremendous asset, a tremendous person, and a true friend to everybody in the VRC."
Coach Evans and Esposito figured out a plan to encourage student vets to be proactive and see how the university and Auburn community can be benefit to their future.
"We came up with an idea to bring in successful alumni and members of the community who play golf and put one student veteran with each team that is in the related field as their studies in hopes of making friendships and more importantly, networking with them to assist in paving their road to success to help with their continuing transition out of the military," he said.
That idea has become an annual tournament that continues on Tuesday, April 16, at the Auburn University Club, and all are invited to participate and meet current student veterans and add another reason to why Auburn is a very special place.
"The great concept about this golf tournament is getting our student veterans to meet people who are leaders in our community and on our campus. It gives our student vets assistance in their transition out of the military to make new friends, network about jobs and interests, and a chance to learn a lifetime sport. To me, that is really important," Evans said.
Iron Bowl Ruck March on Wednesday, Nov 21, 2018 in Auburn, Ala.