Going into the war, I was a young and naïve girl, 21 years of age, still having yet to experience life to the fullest. I was only in the fleet Marine Corps for a full year when we received the word that a deployment was imminent, so I went in not knowing what to expect, but secretly I hoped for adventure in the typical Hollywood-esque manner that any inexperienced young person would. Well, I certainly got my “adventure.” During my first tour, I was immediately thrown outside of my comfort zone and filled a role that I normally would never be considered for. Going from pushing papers daily to driving a 7 ton truck in convoys daily was a rather drastic change that forced me to grow up, and fast. No longer was I depending on someone senior ranking to me to make decisions “for the greater good,” but it was now me; I was now, without any previous experience, in the position of making decisions that would result in one of two possible outcomes: life or death. Within the matter of days I was making such decisions on behalf of others, and I remember being proud of myself for coming so far in such a short period of time. At the end of the deployment, and upon my arrival home I was able to look back at my accomplishments, and I was able to say that yes, I came home from this war a confident woman.