ORLANDO, Fla. – Matt Winstel went from uninterested in going to college directly after high school, to serving in the Navy, and finding meaningful work ... at a university.
Not sure what to do after high school, Winstel and a friend joined the U.S. Navy on the buddy program and “the rest was 26 years of Naval lore,” Winstel said.
After seeing the world, Winstel retired as a master chief in 2011, ready for his next adventure that just happened to be in a familiar place.
Winstel said he left his job on Friday in uniform and returned to the same job, but as a civilian, on the following Tuesday.
“But what I Immediately noticed is that everybody just saw me as that civilian in a corner, not the Senior Chief anymore,” Winstel said.
He missed the camaraderie wish his sailors and his unit.
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A trip to visit family in Orlando turned out to be fortuitous when a friend brought him to the UCF campus in 2018. It just happened to be the day ESPN was set up on the Memory Mall for College Gameday during the school’s undefeated football season.
“I walked around the campus and I got lost, and I fell in love with this place,” Winstel said. “I went back to California, was having a frustrating day and I simply did a search for UCF jobs and six months later I was on campus.”
Winstel is now the Lead School Certifying Official at UCF, a job that lined up well with his experience as a pay and personnel specialist in the Navy. If a student wants to use their V.A. education benefits, they’ll come through the Military & Veteran Success Center where he has an office.
See Matt tell his story in his own words below:
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That’s not all the Military & Veteran Success Center does though – they host many activities for military-connected students throughout the year like lunch and learns, financial literacy seminars and companies like Disney that offer individual resume reviews for students.
The day News 6 sat down with Winstel, he participated and helped organize UCF’s Veterans Day event called “Veterans Salute: Honoring and Remembering Our Alumni Veterans.”
On hand to speak were Walter Napier III, Command Historian with the U.S. Army and State Rep. David Smith, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran.
There were also more than 1,000 American flags posted on the Memory Mall, one for every military-connected student at the university.
According to Winstel, UCF has more than 3,000 students who are veterans or military-connected dependents or spouses – and last semester over 2,300 were using some form of V.A. education benefit.
“It’s a lot of work, but when we do our end of semester graduation ceremony and you get to see the student that’s coming across the stage receiving their veteran’s stole to wear at commencement, and you finally get to put a face to a name that you’ve seen for so many semesters, it’s a great feeling,” Winstel said.
Winstel and the Student Veteran Association chapter at UCF also recently had the chance to be in the VIP section at the Magic Kingdom as the Air Force Thunderbirds flew over Cinderella’s castle to mark the arrival of National Veterans and Military Families Month.
Disney’s legacy of supporting the military dates back to Walt, and his brother, Roy Disney, who both served in the military during World War 1.
Watch the video of the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds fly over Disney World below:
Winstel is also the Orlando chapter captain for a nonprofit called Team Red, White & Blue. According to their mission statement, they aim to guide veterans on a journey “focused on building a healthier lifestyle” for veterans that tend to carry the mission-first mindset with them in civilian life, neglecting their health in the process.
Initially, Winstel worked for the orientation team at UCF before finding his role at the Military & Veteran Success Center.
“This front lobby that we’ve got. We’ve modeled it after a USO. We want this to be a comfortable spot for them to come in and visit and socialize,” Winstel said. “Give us a chance to support you.”