Kim
featured warrior
U.S. Army
WQW Alum
A Warrior’s Journey
I am a Soldier from birth, my father served, my brother served, my father’s brothers served: his brother was at Pearl Harbor, another a POW in WWII. I too was called to serve.
I took care of my first battlefield casualty when I was 25 years old; my first of three deployments to Iraq followed. I am a critical care trauma nurse. Hundreds and hundreds of casualties have passed before me…..young Americans, women, children, allies, and even bad guys…..I lived to resuscitate and comfort.
At home, I trained doctors, nurses, and medics to do the same...we trained them in Miami at the trauma center before they deployed. Some of them never made it back home. I led the team at the Army Burn Center in San Antonio; resuscitated and comforted the young men and women flown from the battlefield, many who fought for years to live.
I’ve seen my colleagues fight to resuscitate and comfort while losing their families in divorce, becoming numb, addicted to drugs and alcohol, and not knowing where to turn…or how to heal themselves.
My pace in life was fast….the next assignment, the next training experience, up early…work late, the next deployment…my relationships suffered, my mother died without me, yet I “soldiered up”….I never felt so viscerally alive. It was the WORST of times, and yet it was the BEST of times…. twenty-eight years of service.
I retired, and the celebration was grand. I looked forward to sleeping in, traveling, pursuing a hobby, and then advancing my career with purpose and meaning. Yet, I found myself lost, angry, impatient, unable to sleep… unable to fully experience anything. I felt depressed. I felt as if I’d lost my tribe.
I applied to the Built for More (BFM) program in search of a way to reshape my life by connecting with the present moment, discovering a current sense of meaning, and engaging with a like-minded community. It was apparent to me that this program was not only sophisticated but built on evidence to positively impact the lives of Veterans.
The BFM was so much more than I anticipated. The first week of the program lifted my motivation to really commit to the Built for More process. Our cohort learned the new skill of fly fishing, spent afternoons on long walks, engaged in meaningful conversations, and began forming a healthy, focused path. That commitment remained throughout the nine months leading up to the completion of the BFM process and has extended well beyond that for me. I am thriving in life, in relationships, and in community. I love to assist WQW as a volunteer and advocate, encouraging other Veterans to explore Built for More. I am eternally grateful.
