Gonzalez was selected through an application process that was held nationwide involving sending in a resume and multiple interviews, which allowed him to then participate in the fellowship where those involved learned leadership skills from corporate executives leading Fortune 500 companies across the United States. It was a four day trip and involved multiple students from multiple universities, including Harvard, Princeton and MIT.

Gonzalez said the Leadership Institute that the fellowship was through offered a vigorous, in-depth fellowship program that took individuals with potential strong leadership qualities and gave them the skills to go home and back out into their communities and make them a better place.

He noted that the fellowship is through Student Veterans of America and that the organization recognizes all political and religious ideologies and advocates to teach students this skill set across the board, being a non-political organization with 1500 chapters and 600,000 members, though the chapter at Jamestown Community College where Gonzalez is a nursing student is the only chapter between the Buffalo, Cleveland and Pittsburgh area.

Some parts of the fellowship that Gonzalez got to do was talk with a leader from Boeing who talked with him about how to rebuild the public’s trust of their company after having some missteps, and there was also an hour long presentation from high ranking officials in the current Trump administration where they talked about their childhoods and how they got to be where they are today in the White House.

Through the fellowship students were given the opportunity to learn leadership skills and bring them back to their communities to help make them a better place. Submitted photo

“These officials were well below the age of 55 and it showed that there are avenues for young people to climb the ranks for high-up leadership positions,” Gonzalez said. “These people grew up middle class and it was a testament to their leadership capabilities, regardless of their political affiliation, and it was wonderful to hear their stories.”

Other parts of the fellowship also included for the students involved was working on their mission statements and discussing their core values such as how they define integrity. There was another presentation by TikTok influencer Johnny Vargas who is a Sergeant First Class in the Army. Gonzalez said his presentation focused on building his brand, how he is approaching military retirement soon, and having a strong social media presence to help advocate for change on military bases.

“I lived in a barracks in Texas that did not have adequate air conditioning,” Gonzalez said. “It would reach 100 degrees or more during the day and at night it would still be in the 80s. Vargas advocates for better living conditions for soldiers so they don’t get heat related injuries that cause them to need to leave the service early and improve overall quality of life. He has made significant contributions to the military community through social media, and by doing so in the proper way. You see a lot more military social media influencers these days because of his work.”

Another part of the fellowship was the students getting to critique one another, and Gonzalez said a big critique he got was needing more self confidence. He said as a nurse it has been engrained into him to ask if something is OK, adding that he was happy that his critique was working on self confidence, while he also had some praise for being selfless, as others were critiqued for being too authoritarian. There was also discussion on how to take these leadership practices the students were learning through the fellowship out into their home communities, listen to their needs, and help make the community stronger.

In the future, Gonzalez said he is up for a potential senior fellowship position that once he goes through another application process would allow him to return to DC again as a mentor. This pool includes about 600,000 people but there are also requirements to be a Leadership Institute fellow, so really the pool is down to like 500 that are eligible, with four being chosen.

Jamestown man Daniel Gonzalez was given the opportunity to return to DC as a part of a fellowship program through Student Veterans of America. Submitted photo

“So being chosen to do that would be huge,” Gonzalez said. “That’s my next goal.”

One last big piece that the students in the fellowship worked on was continuing to advocate for student veterans, specifically through work on HR Bill 1965, or the Veterans Education Assistance Adjustment Act. This is a bill that Gonzalez said has been sitting since March and that they could use help moving along, but that essentially will work to help student veterans be able to better afford textbooks in the future. The bill looks to increase student veterans’ stipend to $1400, specifically for help in purchasing textbooks for STEM classes, which Gonzalez noted to be expensive. For one book that he needs for his nursing program next semester the cost is around $463.

“This bill will help students in the future be able to afford to keep continuing their programs and not have to walk away because they cannot afford it,” Gonzalez said. “It’s a low amount still, but it is a start.”

There are other similar bills in the works still as well, including one for childcare provisions. Gonzalez said they are continuing to work to get someone, possibly Congressman Nick Langworthy, or someone similar, to pick up the bill, not for themselves but for veteran students who are coming after them to help make their lives easier. This is the type of thing that comes from these trips, he added, but he said it can be difficult for students in Western New York to get support and be heard from people in power sometimes, and there is always work to be done.

Gonzalez has also recently worked and been successful at securing funding for the continual improvement of the JCC veterans lounge. Through the JCC Alumni grant they were able to secure $3500.

“There’s another grant that we are waiting to hear back on which is the Stamps Foundation grant which is a $5000 award,” Gonzalez said. “We will know on December 1 if we have been awarded the funds.”

Gonzalez encouraged others interested in learning more about Student Veterans of America or joining them to reach out to either him or Melissa Hoyt and Don Pool with JCC. The organization is open to any military aligned students, including dependents and spouses, who he noted are the ones more likely to be utilizing the GI Bill these days.

“It’s critical to let them know they have the opportunity to voice what is important to them and what their hurdles are that they face to help make things better for the next people to come after them,” Gonzalez said.