After four years as a Combat Engineer (Military Occupational Specialty: 1371) I knew I wanted to continue to help people, but I was unsure as to how. With no real direction to reach the goal, I slowly fell in to a depression masked by woman, drugs, and alcohol. I wanted to help people, but I needed help. I was on a path of self destruction, that was not meant for me. For 5 years after the Marine Corps I was a depressed drunk, who spent plenty of nights in jail. My car was repossessed one time. I've even been evicted from my home once. It's a terrifying feeling, when you can see your life spinning out of control. The wake up call I received, came in the form of multiple felonies. Said information was replayed to me after I awoke shirtless, on a hospital gurney, surrounded by several police officers. The charges were reduced and 240 hours of community service later, I realized in order to help others I must first help myself. I let my discipline slip. I didn't hold myself accountable for anything. It was time to make a change.

The change can in the form of fitness. Even though I trained countless hours in the military, those organized war simulations were long behind me. I needed a new reason to train. While I was on my journey to become a firefighter, I had gone on a few ride-alongs, with a few different fire departments with hopes of getting hired on. We seemed to only receive medical calls, no fires. Lots of unhealthy people needing assistance to the hospital. Then it hit me, "maybe I could help people before the chronic health diseases get them? I had found my purpose. My quality of life needed to increase, so I choose to increase my fitness level. With this same blueprint in mind, I set out to improve the fitness levels of everyone I could. Fitness makes your body happy. When your body is happy, your mind is happy. Don't even get me started on training Jiu-jitsu and other martial arts...! I had to go through STRUGGLE to create the best version of myself.

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