Robert Petruccello, CLASS OF 2019 

In December of 2007, I was sitting at the recruiter’s office with my mom and dad. I glanced over at my mom, tears running down her face knowing that I, her oldest son of 17 years, wanted to join the Air Force as soon as I graduated from high school.

Serving in the military during a time of war was the greatest honor of my life. It brought out what it means to be a human. The best part was the comradery. We’re in this environment where we will literally do anything for the person to our left and the person to our right because we literally love them and we need them.

In 2015, I separated from the military.

As much as I enjoyed my military experience, I felt like I was ready to leave on good terms. I felt that it was the thing to do. I probably had unrealistic expectations about how awesome life was going to be when I got out.

Bottom line, getting out was just really hard. Service to America unknowingly put strain on my life. When you’re performing at such a high stress level all of the time, and everybody else and all of your friends are doing the same thing, you convince yourself that it’s normal.

Transitioning from the military fundamentally felt like a loss of identity. There were times where I just felt like I was living someone else’s life. Like, “What is even going on right now?” It took me two years after I separated to get moving and take that first uncomfortable step to move out of my parents’ basement to get enrolled in school.

I think that veterans are craving the opportunity to get off the couch and get out of their house and spend a little bit of time connecting with others in their community through something positive. Because spinning our wheels at home by ourselves is just not the best part of us.

The time we spend with other people who have different backgrounds brings out the best in us.

It’s really easy to sit and say, “Man, we should just pass out money” or we should do all different kinds of things for veterans that don’t work in the long run. I believe that community and doing things together work.

Nobody’s last words will be, “Man, I wish I spent more time on my iPhone.” What will make you happy is the time you spend with the people that you care about.

Veterans are not particularly good at identifying themselves as being in need of help, or even if they identify, they don’t really want to ask for it.

The veteran’s pilgrimage to Assisi is our initiative to send two new student veterans every year to find themselves with other new student veterans. Taking a little bit of time away to dive into conversations and talk about things in a comprehensive way is the first step in the recipe for making progress toward improving mental health and wellness.

When you sign up for something it is unknown. It’s a challenge, and will push you outside of your comfort zone. When you join the military, you leave changed and learn something else about how you want to live your life.

It’s a humbling experience to go through, and I’m not the only one. If you’re reading this maybe you have been through it. Certainly, millions of Americans have been through it — and a hundred million more Americans will support the people going forward. Together once again this time as veterans, we can do extraordinary things.