I didn’t join the military thinking I’d have a life of adventure but, as it turned out, adventure found me anyway.

I was too young to sign up for myself and had to have my father sign the papers allowing me to join the Woman’s Royal Air Force — I was 17 years of age. A decision he had a huge part in suggesting given, at the time, I was in a constant battle with my menopausal mother. And, let me tell you, had I stayed, one of us would have ended up strangling the other.

So a solution was found. My father told me there was a way I could keep my sanity, have a job, and get paid to do my studies. A dream my mother had quashed with, “if you’re going to live here you have to contribute to the household,” meaning, get a job you’re not going to university.

With that particular dream in tatters, my father steered me towards somewhere I was very familiar with: the military. I was after all, a military brat, and had travelled across the planet with my parents, going from one country to another. And, knowing that life already, readily agreed with my dad here was the answer to all my problems.

So, rather than murder my mother or go insane, I signed up, took the oath, and left home to pursue a different path. And, in doing so, had a whole other set of adventures than those I had originally imagined, all the while earning my BSc along the way.

Life sometimes take us down a different path than the one we envisioned. And, to be honest, I’m very happy with the way things turned out in the end. Otherwise, I probably wouldn’t be here.