The purpose of this case study research aims to bridge gaps in the current research by exploring how both veteran and nonveteran adult and higher education (AHE) learners make sense of their educational journey and identity, in and out of the classroom, during their first-year experience (FYE) course at a community college (CC) in the Southwest region. Combining critical incident technique (CIT) and narrative inquiry, the researcher is able to investigate veteran and nonveteran AHE learners’ personal critical incident narrative testimonies to make sense of individual identity and values. Relevant literature on the topic of FYE’s and transition for veteran and nonveteran learners underscore potentially problematic issues in the current scholarship. The theoretical framework from which this research was undertaken, methodology, findings and discussion reveal how nonveteran and veteran AHE learners identify a ‘third side’ or common ground in 1) the fight to pursue AHE, 2) the negotiation of new roles and 3) the influence of family on identity. To conclude, implications for future research and conclusions to advance understandings about veteran AHE learners have been offered. Ultimately, participant responses reveal common or ‘third sides,’ and how these ‘third side’ spaces contribute towards a collaborative learning environment in an FYE. General experiences of transition into the higher education setting for veteran and nonveteran learners are also shared in the findings.

In the last 40 years undergraduate enrollment across the United States has more than doubled, yet graduation rates remain practically unchanged (Complete College America 2012). Increased pressure placed on first-year experience as a policy and practice to carve a pathway with strategies for navigating higher education internationally is how institutions in the 21stcentury grapple with challenges of retaining, progressing, and graduating their students (Nutt and Calderon, 2009). Despite the availability of scholarship and pervasiveness of policy which include first-year experience (FYE) initiatives, or a multiplex of “intentional academic and co-curricular efforts within and across postsecondary institutions” to emphasize academic and social adjustment (Koch 2007, 23), higher education globally is somewhat divided on equitable, inclusive understandings, approaches, and implementation when it comes to placing imporance on social adjustment over academic skills in 21st century education contexts.