Emerald High Freshmen Launch Podcast To Share Veterans' Stories

DUBLIN, CA — A group of Emerald High School freshmen is hoping to combat stereotypes of veterans and military service through a new podcast interviewing local veterans.

Ayeen Nautiyal is the founder of Youth Empowerment in Military Careers, a nonprofit dedicated to veteran outreach that has also hosted a letter writing event to thank veterans for their service. Nautiyal said she launched the “Voice of Veterans” podcast to “get to know our veterans better, learn about the challenges during their military career, life-long skills they’ve developed, and their perspective on the next generation of military innovators and leaders.”

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Four members of the group interviewed two former Navy service members from VFW Post 6298 in Pleasanton.

“We got to learn more about how they ended up joining their military, inspirations, greatest challenges and proudest accomplishments, overall experiences, and words of advice for future generations,” Nautiyal said. “The goal was to not just learn about their service, but to learn more about how it has shaped them to this day and if their skills derived from the military are still put to use.”

Nautiyal said that the group conducted a community poll that found that 89% of community members feel intimidated or uneasy about the idea of military service, and 77% stated that media or forms online have altered their idea of military service.

“After conducting interviews, our team was able to defy stereotypes,” she said. “We’ve truly learnt that calm seas don’t make good sailors. The key takeaways were that every individual joins the military for different reasons and comes out with pride and morals that they never forget.”

In the future, Youth Empowerment in Military Careers hopes to host more podcasts, and potentially hold Q&A’s open to the public.

The interviews can be viewed on YEMC’s YouTube page. The Voice of Veterans podcast is also available for download on Spotify.