Michelle 'Mace' Curran

We end up settling that Air Force ROTC would probably be a good fit.

Great scholarship opportunities.

At that point, I didn't want to be a pilot.

But the Air Force, I associated with this idea of exploration and adventure.

And it just felt like the branch that I got the most excited about.

So I go off to college in Minnesota on an ROTC scholarship as a criminal justice major.

Because my plan is to do four years in the Air Force after I graduate to pay back my scholarship.

And then I want to be an FBI agent.

Okay.

That is my dream as like a 16 year old.

Wow.

I don't know why I always joke that I love the X-Files growing up and, you know, the most accurate representation of what FBI agents do, hunt down aliens.

But there we are.

And then halfway through college, I'm already going to commission as a lieutenant when I graduate college.

We end up visiting an Air Force base and I see two fighter jets take off in full afterburner.

And I am just awestruck.

It is the coolest thing I have ever seen.

Goosebumps, jaw dropping.

And I'm like, forget the FBI.

How do I go do that?