When Carol Osborne walks into your life, it’s for good – in both the long-term and positive definitions of the word.
And that’s how it has been for Roger William Smith II, who was one of Osborne’s sixth-grade students at Washtenaw Christian Academy back in 2011 and now refers to her affectionately as “school mom.”
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Osborne is Manager of Military and Veteran Services at WCC and has helped many veterans transition from the military to academics in her role at the Wadhams Veterans Center.
It’s not a job for her. It's a calling. One she cherishes every single day.
“We can get very busy during the day here at the Veterans Center and I wouldn’t want it any other way,” Osborne said. “Our military connected and veteran students feel welcome, seen, supported and cared for when they visit and that’s my goal.”
One of those veteran students is Smith, who served in the Marines.
“What first got me interested was the thought of being a part of the military in general. I wanted to do something that was bigger than myself, and the Marines was that thing," Smith said. "Carol helped push me in that direction. My uncle, who also was in the Marines, supported me as well.”
Osborne remembers Smith as a “friendly and obedient” sixth grader who has always been a funny, loyal and likeable person.
“He will probably not like this, but he’s always been a sweet person,” Osborne said. “As a teacher I would talk about my family, and the students always loved hearing what was happening in my ‘real’ life outside the classroom.”
Many of those “real” stories had to do with Osborne’s family, in which military life runs deep.
Over the past 10 years, her husband has been deployed three times to the Middle East and their son has served in Afghanistan and Iraq on two separate deployments. These are the times when the family really feels the term “when one serves the whole family serves.”
“I would share with my students about my husband’s time in the Marine Corps and how the military played a significant role in our lives, never thinking that this young sixth-grade boy was listening so intently and spinning his wheels about what it would be like to be a Marine,” she said.
That boy and his teacher lost touch for a few years, until the phone rang one day at the Osborne house.
“He contacted me and wanted to see if he could connect with my husband regarding the Marines,” she said. “Of course. Anything for my students … even years later.”
In 2017, Smith signed the paperwork for the U.S. Marines Corps and left for boot camp in October 2018. He was stationed in Camp Pendleton, California and was deployed to Okinawa, Japan before leaving the Marine Corps in October 2022.
“My experience was a short four-year contract that was filled with a lot of struggle but also some great times with friends that I made,” Smith said.
When Smith returned home, he reconnected with this “school mom.”
“We lost touch during his time in the Marines but one day he contacted me again, this time about returning to school,” Osborne said. “I told him about the programs here at WCC, and here we are again back in school together. He’s still a student, and I am more of a mentor than a teacher. I’m just glad to be able to help him reach his goals.”
Smith enrolled at WCC in January 2023 and has taken several general education classes.
“WCC wasn't a consideration until Carol encouraged me to come study here,” he said. “My experience with WCC has been great despite some struggles with a few classes. Since coming to WCC, I have made many friends and have gotten plenty of help from them and Carol.”
Smith plans to transfer to the University of Michigan-Dearborn, where he will be pursuing a bachelor's degree in electrical engineering. His long-term plan is to have his degree in two years and possibly work in the communications field.
Osborne has steered WCC’s Wadhams Veteran Center – located on the second floor of the Student Center – to multiple accolades as a Gold-level Veteran-Friendly School by the Michigan Veterans Affairs Agency.
A graduate of the college herself, Osborne enrolled at WCC soon after her husband left to serve in Okinawa, attending from 1988 to 1991. She earned an associate degree and transferred her credits directly into Eastern Michigan University’s College of Education.
“That’s where WCC came into my life,” she said. “Spouses weren’t allowed on overseas tours, so I moved from our Marine Corps base in Camp LeJeune, North Carolina, back to Michigan. I started attending WCC … with hopes of becoming a teacher. I graduated from EMU with my master's degree and began teaching shortly after.”
And soon thereafter, she met a young sixth grader who walked into her life for good.
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This story appeared in the Fall 2026 edition of Launch magazine. View the publication.
Tags: Launch Fall 2026, Student Veterans, Veteran-Friendly School, Wadhams Veterans Center