In 2013, Michael Nash arrived at USC Aiken as a psychology major, and for the past year has been working with Dr. Daniel Hoffman on the professor's research efforts related how behavior works in the brain.
For Nash, that initiative has resonated with him powerfully, and after he graduates next month, plans to pursue his own research related to veterans.
After finishing high school in the 1990s, Nash enlisted the Army, spending two years as a satellite operator. Then he started college - until 9-11 shook him, as it did millions. Nash asked himself, what was the most important thing he could do in response?
Almost immediately, he re-enlisted as an infantryman and by the end of 2003, he arrived in Iraq.
Over the next 10 years, he was deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan five times - serving overseas longer than at home. Nash saw combat over and over, eventually serving as a platoon leader for young boys and men ages 18 to 23. He watched some of them having difficulty in coping, not just with their own harrowing conditions, but also with the knowledge they had killed others.
Some soldiers broke down and others did not, or they might have been perfect in combat and couldn't act like a normal person back in the States. One man had been an outstanding soldier who later committed suicide. Nash began to realize that enough was enough and saw a need to explore these issues more formally.
"I lived it," he said.
Nash, now 36, is grateful that Hoffman invited him to At USCA's annual Research Day event on Saturday.
Nash presented a poster for judging with the title "Investigating the Temporal Organization os Operant Behavior." He and Hoffman are working with rats, studying them and different patterns of behavior that can exist in humans, too.
"People who are suicidal think differently in that they can't get over the negative thoughts," Nash said. "Those who are healthy can get over the bad stuff."
Hoffman cites Nash's success as a student through his intense curiosity on how behavior works. Nash was always curious, "but I think his time in the military left him with enduring, difficult questions about people and the things we do," Hoffman said. "Mike believes that effectively helping individuals with behavioral or mental health issues really begins with understanding basic psychology and biology principles."
Nash is applying to colleges, seeking a graduate degree in the area of experimental psychology or another related field. He knows people who may not understand why he is doing this kind of research.
"What motivates me is the end of this - finding patterns and helping change people," Nash said. "This is one of the best ways to approach it."
Rob Novit is the Aiken Standard's education reporter and has been with the newspaper since 2001.