Amanda Burrill

So as a child, it was as though I was always searching for something, whether it was scouring the woods for quartz, which was the currency of my youth, or rowing this boat from shore to shore on the lake looking for artifacts.

Every summer, I wanted to find a bigger artifact.

Or in first grade, every day I'd get home from school and I'd go run two miles.

And I had like the first edition of the Timex watch and I'd time myself.

And that went on for like six years.

And what it looked like to everyone else was this kid who was never satisfied, and what it felt like to me was Nintendo.

This was the late 80s, and it was like every day was just a chance to level up.

I suppose it was this seeking what's next behavior that led me to take a Navy ROTC scholarship to college, figuring, you know, the military might unlock some adventure.

and my plan was to be a jet pilot.

And I got to train for it here and there throughout school.

In my senior year, I failed my final flight physical.

My eyesight had changed.

So I couldn't be a jet pilot, and I ended up on a ship.

It wasn't as big as an aircraft carrier, but it was a huge 600-foot ship.

But I found a way to maybe make it interesting.

I saw these rescue swimmers doing their thing, and I asked my command if I could go.

Now, at the time, rescue swimming was not a job for women, and to this day, it is not a job for officers.

But I asked if I could go, and they said no.

So, I asked five more times, and I even wrote a memo.

And finally, they didn't say, you know, go get them, girl.