“My father introduced my siblings and me to the idea of the Army — which was peculiar, since we weren’t a military family. I had never considered the Army, but my dad took us on a visit to West Point, and the rest was history.

I had a busy first summer after separating from the Army; I took a solo trip across Mongolia, volunteered at a Syrian refugee camp, and became a yoga instructor in Costa Rica. I also crossed off my fiftieth state by climbing Denali in Alaska and started to get into mountaineering. Professionally, my next stop was getting a Wharton MBA, which led to my first civilian job. My readjustment post-Army was tough. I’d just left an organization that felt like a family; some of my soldiers wept during my farewell, which almost made me question leaving. It felt strange trading that environment for the parties at business school, where I initially struggled to connect with my peers. In society and in the military, we’re programmed to think and react in certain ways. Some of it has been helpful to me, but some has prevented me from actualizing my true self. Once I realized the armor I’d been wearing throughout my life was just a coping mechanism, I knew it was time to take it off, and finally find levity. That’s the mission I’m on in my second lifetime: Doing the inner work.”