Title: Soldier
Company: United States Army
Location: El Paso, TX United States

Joining the United States Army had always been a dream for Alissa Robinson. When she was a kid, she told her dad she wanted to make a difference, and he jokingly suggested she enlist in the military. That sort of stuck with her, however, and after the events of 9/11, when she saw all of the men and women going to help their country and fight for what they believe in, she knew it was what she wanted to do too. Ms. Robinson entered the Army right out of high school, and was deployed on active duty in Hawaii. There, she started out as a truck driver, and eventually transitioned to become a cook. When Ms. Robinson became pregnant, she took on a more administrative role before deciding to transfer to the reserves. She is currently stationed in El Paso, Texas, where she has retained her role as a cook and works one to two weekends a month.

Although Ms. Robinson is extremely passionate about her profession, there are some things she would like to change, the most prominent of which is what happens when soldiers come off of active duty. At the moment, the Army tries to prepare them for civilian life by teaching them skills like building a resume and applying for jobs, but the class is only a week long and there is a lot of information to take in. This leads to a lot of homeless veterans who don’t know how to get back on their feet, so, in an effort to alleviate this problem, Ms. Robinson and her husband are working to start a nonprofit organization that would help give them the tools they need to succeed.

To prepare for her future endeavors, Ms. Robinson is currently pursuing a Bachelor of Arts in social psychology from Park University. She has plans to obtain a master’s degree in counseling psychology from Liberty University upon the completion of the bachelor’s degree, and hopes to one day earn a doctorate as well. Ms. Robinson considers doing so well in college to be her greatest accomplishment; she wasn’t super motivated in high school because she saw it as merely a means to an end, and thus starting college was really nerve-racking. Inspired by her husband, who always encouraged her to reach for more, she currently has a 3.8 GPA, a feat she is very proud of. Being a full time student while being a wife and soldier and raising two young toddlers is a challenge, but she definitely feels it is worth it.

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