I entered the U.S. Air Force just six days after graduating from high school. I grew up in a poor family without any possibility of going to college, so I had little choice but to go into the military.

The military allowed me to find my way in the world and get an education. I retired after almost 24 years of active duty and would recommend the military to anyone who hasn’t quite made up their mind about what to do with their life.

The military taught me to find solutions. Sometimes it was like, “Here, take this roll of duct tape and these paper clips and go fix that airplane.” I was always either preparing for an inspection or in one and the pressure of performing under stress and pushed to “do more with less,” embedded the need to find better ways to do things into my work ethic.

This was a great experience to have transitioning into the credit union world and my role at Georgia’s Own Credit Union, where finding solutions for problems “not always written in policy” were a constant need in management and allowed me to find those unique and creative solutions for our members and the credit union.

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