Somewhere in my journal, “2011″ is written big and bold across an entire page. The same thing is hanging on a piece of paper on the wall of my room in New Jersey. I wrote them two years ago, signifying my goal — to represent my country in the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Germany. Also in my journal is written “2008,” the year of the last Olympics. I did not achieve that goal.

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Goal: Code Words for 2011: Play Happy

Turns out you might not be paranoid if you think people are reading your mind. A new study in The Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, a respected publication, says extrasensory perception, or ESP, is more real than previously thought. The…

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Is ESP Real After All?

Three weeks after returning to the United States from my latest tour of duty in Afghanistan, I arrived in Cambridge, Mass., to begin the midcareer master in public administration program at the Harvard Kennedy School . As the program began, I was introduced to my extraordinary classmates, representing more than 50 nations, who in many cases have traveled the globe tackling significant issues as diverse as environmental sustainment, health care, and international development. MORE FROM NATIONAL JOURNAL: National Journal’s Oral History Of Iraq & Afghanistan In Treating Trauma, Military Branches Out Army Struggles Toward Goal Of Wi-Fi Infantry For all of their fantastic experiences, however, very few have interacted with soldiers. Some classmates are from countries where the armed forces lack credibility, and some have perhaps been influenced by negative press reporting. As a veteran, I feel a sense of responsibility not only to make the most of the tremendous educational opportunity that I’ve been given but also to be an international ambassador for those serving in uniform. The question I get most often is, “What is it like?” Yet I’m never quite sure exactly what I’m being asked or how to respond. In conversations at school, there is often an uncomfortable silence when I reveal that I’ve just returned from “the war.” Many Kennedy School classmates and Cambridge residents have never even met a soldier, much less one involved in the fighting. The truth is, however, we are just like you. I, along with more than 80 other former or current veterans at the Kennedy School, share pasts similar to yours. We attended college. We played soccer and explored the outdoors. We have mothers who insist on making our favorite food, and fathers who enjoy giving us their advice. We love our wives and play Frisbee with our children. We have dreams and aspirations. As veterans, we represent the full diversity of not only the American people but also the international community. We are Democrats and Republicans, Muslims and Christians, Hispanics and African-Americans. We went to Kosovo, Iraq, Afghanistan, and other countries to serve our nation when she called. We are you. Soldiers are not politicians. We did not choose this war; it was given to us. We weren’t asked our opinions, but we left our families–many of us multiple times–to fly halfway around the world to try to make a difference and support fledgling democracies. Many of us have buried friends or lost young men and women who were under our command. Most of us came home seemingly whole, but we all were forever changed. Some of the scars of old wounds are visible but others go deeper. Sitting at an outdoor café recently with a woman I’d just met, my back was to the road (mistake No. 1). I was relaxed and enjoying a mouth-watering steak when suddenly I heard an explosion directly behind me. My body, having survived five previous IED [improvised explosive device] attacks, involuntarily jerked toward the ground. Within a fraction of a second, I realized that I was in Cambridge and not Kabul. The explosion? It was only a car that had hit a noisy metal plate in the road. As I sheepishly looked at the concerned face of my new friend, she graciously offered to switch seats with me, so “you can see the cars as they approach.” She understood. Harvard purposefully creates an environment that allows us to open our minds and dissolve existing barriers. The faculty has accomplished the extraordinary task of eliminating discrimination, including gender, ethnicity, religion, and sexual orientation, which continue to divide other parts of our society. Slowly, the invisible divide between those who have served in the armed forces and those who have not is also disappearing. It is up to us, the student body, to bridge this final gap. When you meet veterans, or as Harvard President Drew Faust fondly calls us, “soldier-scholars,” on campus, put your preconceptions aside. Look for similarities instead of differences. Connect with us. Ask about our backgrounds. Listen. Leverage our experience and probe deeply to understand. Embrace us as part of your community. Unless you take the time to get to know us, you’ll miss what a national treasure we are. We are just like you. This essay first appeared in the Harvard Gazette .

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From Afghan Fighting to Harvard

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Gay youth receive harsher punishments at school and with the law than straight teens, according to a new study. The Yale University analysis, published online Monday in the journal Pediatrics, found that “consistently, gay and bisexual youth were at a…

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Gay Teens Punished More Harshly: Study

A bunch of lab mice at Harvard are enjoying unnaturally long lives after a recent study found scientists’ anti-aging therapy dramatically effective. The study, published in the journal Nature, showed weak, feeble mice becoming strong and healthy again…

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Scientists Reverse Aging in Mice

An essential nutrient found in fish oil does not appear to slow the mental decline associated with Alzheimer’s disease, according to a new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

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Fish oil doesn’t slow Alzheimer’s

Nearly one in four stars like the Sun could have Earth-sized planets, according to a new estimate published in the journal Science.

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Earth-sized planets ‘very common’

Women who take fish-oil supplements during pregnancy are just as likely to experience postpartum depression as those who don’t, and their babies’ minds don’t appear to develop more quickly, according to a new study in the Journal of the American Medical Association.

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Fish oil no benefit to new moms, babies

A new study claims that menopause hormone supplements have been found to not only increase the risk of breast cancer, but also to make that cancer much more aggressive. The study, published by the Journal of American Medicine, urges women to stop using…

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Hormone Use Intensifies Breast Cancer