KENNESAW - Kennesaw native Steven Watkins is just 22 years old, but his youth masks a maturity acquired in wartime as an Iraq War veteran.

Watkins is a Kennesaw State University sophomore who in 2008 served in Rutbah, a town 220 miles west of Baghdad in Anbar province. The Marine Reserve corporal returned home from his first deployment in November 2008 and resumed his studies two months later in January 2009.

Fitting back in with fellow students on the KSU campus has been difficult at times, he acknowledged.

"It's your mindset that you have and when you get home. It's kind of hard to turn it off," said Watkins, who has spent four years in the military. "The hardest thing for me was the isolation. It's very, very hard to relate to anybody, except the guys that you were with."

Adjusting to life for many of the 1.9 million U.S. veterans who have deployed for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan since the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks has been challenging. Some have struggled with addictions, mental health problems, homelessness and unemployment after returning home.

Nearly two-thirds of veterans who have served in active duty in the military since September 2001 are younger than 35, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

Several days ago, KSU hosted Student Veterans of America's first Southeastern Regional Conference on May 21 - 23. The goal of the conference was to help young veterans gain knowledge and awareness of veterans' issues. More than 50 participants from around the Southeast met with other student veterans and brainstormed ways to achieve common goals among college veterans. The Bob Woodruff Foundation sponsored the event.

A major part of the conference was devoted to helping young veterans transition from the battlefield to the classroom, said KSU senior Marello Harris, secretary of Student Veterans of America.

"Even though I don't have any ... combat time, it was still a rough adjustment after getting out. I'd been in the Marines for nine years - it was a way of life for me," said Harris, 37, an accounting major.

"Trying to navigate certain systems was a little aggravating. So it was a pretty tough process, which is why I'm so passionate about doing what I do now, because I've been through what some of these guys are going through now."

What some veterans are going through is war-related post-traumatic stress disorder, an anxiety disorder that can be characterized by frightening thoughts, depression, bad dreams and being easily startled. The main treatments for people with PTSD, according to the National Institute of Mental Health, are psychotherapy, medications or both.

Kaye Coker, a psychotherapist and co-director of Veteran's Heart Georgia, spoke to conference participants. Her Decatur-based nonprofit provides resources, such as counseling, mentoring and workshops, to veterans and their families dealing with the effects of war.

"Sometimes the feelings that are involved with having changed and coming home can become uncomfortable," she said. "When we try to deal with them by not dealing with them, then they become difficult emotions and can sometimes become very disruptive in one's life. The current name for that is post-traumatic stress."

KSU sophomore Candace Rich, a history major who served with the Marines in Iraq, was recently selected as the SVA's southeast regional director. She said being able to discuss various topics at the conference with other student veterans was refreshing.

"We all kind of understand each other and it's easier to talk with each other, coming from us being in the military and having our own mindset," said Rich, 25. "Other students don't understand where we're coming from so much."

Watkins, who is studying education, said talking regularly with other veterans has helped him adjust to civilian life and being a college student again.

"The only thing that really helped was talking with my guys - calling them every so often and we'd get together as often as we could," he said. "Eventually it just kind of got easier."

Returning veterans may be at a higher risk of suicide. The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs suggests calling the National Suicide Prevention toll-free hotline number at 1 (800) 273-8255 for help. Press 1 for veterans.