From College to Army Comissioned Officer: Journey Interview with 2LT Jordan Player

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One thing too was this, it's it's hard to be successful when it's just you, when you have a circle of people that are on the same, same ambition, same goals, same drive that you want to get to do is have a melting pot for success. And really look at your circle and look at your friends, look at your family, those that are where they are, where they're at. And are you happy being there? Do you want to be there, you know, really ask in demand more of yourself and those around you.

Thank you, everyone for joining us today. We're very fortunate to be joined. And I'm honored to have the next generation of military leader on our show. I met this gentleman while hosting the military mix up in the middle pack club on clubhouse. And I felt that this young professional has something going for him that places him ahead of his class. And that is his maturity and brilliance to seek knowledge from his fellow military community. For him to be actively seeking information, leaning forward in the foxhole, as they say, in preparedness for his next step, which is to get commissioned and eventually take over leadership, a leadership position within the United States Army demonstrates this young commissioned officers overall maturity and professionalism because when I was his age, and in his position, I did not seek advice or help from anyone that had already been in the military community. Today, we have United States Army Second Lieutenant Jordan player who has been commissioned for only a few weeks now he's a signal officer who is extremely eager and ready to learn from the front. Jordan, I want to thank you for joining us today. Thank you KP for having me. Lt. Would you mind telling us a little bit about where you're from? And what was your upbringing, like? So I was born and raised in Fayetteville, North Carolina. till about eight years old. I live with my mom for the most part, I will see my dad mostly on the weekends. And um, you know, small town,

small community growing up, not too much going on. Then I would say around middle school, I moved to the top of County, North Carolina. And that's about maybe an hour or so outside of Charlotte. I'm even smaller town. So that was a one way street in the country. My mom got remarried. To my former stepdad, I would say it was just very small community. Everybody knew each other, for the most part went to school with a lot of my friends. I still talk to you today. You know, one way street and all those dudes go outside and have fun. But like I said, My upbringing was pretty simple. So what type of high school student would you say that you were? Were you actively involved in programs and sports? Did you have a lot of direction growing up? And like, what was your grades like? Now? So my high school experience was kind of interesting. Going into high school, I always wanted to accomplish more and be more my freshman year. So I got all A's in all my classes, right? I'll never forget, I showed my report cards, one of my friends that I used to know. And he showed me his and he was like, he's like, you got all ladies, right? But are the honors classes? And I was like, What honors classes? He was like, yeah, you try to go to school, right? Those are just, you know, chump change. And I was like, Oh, wow. Okay. So ever since that conversation, I was motivated to be like, you know what, I can do more, and I want more, I want to go to school. So ever since then, I've been taking straight honors. My first AP class my senior year, I played sports, I played varsity basketball my sophomore year, football was my love, still is really great at that. And I was in the beta club. In my senior year, I actually got an opportunity to join the Society of students on campus that were, I guess, you could say, leaders for the future and whatnot, with the faculty looked up to for the most part. So I was a part of that organization. And I finished off with 7.5 GPA. So yeah, it was it was fun, and I really worked my I work really, really hard to be to where I'm at now. And I kind of carried that ambition on to my future. Now you said you finished with what GPA 3.75 3.75 Wow, that's really impressive. Speaking from someone that really didn't, I was someone that didn't really know what I wanted to do into my junior year. And then I had to try to work myself up to get those A's and B's to even get up to a 3.0. So hats off to you man for figuring it out nice and early. How did you select your college and at what point did you decide to start your journey into getting commissioned into the United States military. So for the most part, when it came to my choice in schools, I wanted to be relatively close to home, because I had a lot of family. Okay, a lot of time. It's my mom and my grandparents. Interesting enough. I didn't do well on the LSAT. I'm not perfect by any means. But um, I didn't do well. So I didn't get to the schools, I wanted to. I want to go into Western Carolina my freshman year. And that was one of the options I was okay. relatively cheap, last campus. And you know, when I start there, when it comes to my military career starting off, that really clicked me, some introspection, I would say, coming home, and I was like, wow, like, I'm in school, paying this money. But I don't really have a solid goal as to what I want to actually do. Growing up, I've always seen a group in the military family. granddad was in the Marines. That was in the army for 20 plus years, my mom would have went to the Air Force, she didn't have me. I've got cousins. And well, I do have one uncle that sir. But regardless, I grew up in the spectrum. So seeing what they've accomplished, and what they've done in their careers. I was like, You know what, like, they're all you know, for the most part, living pretty well. And I want that. It was a competition, I helped my granddad he was like, sounds like you know what? granddad like, I'm pretty much getting done with school. Like, I'm just trying to get some money now and started started career. And I chose the thing with the military, not to get our PC in high school. So I kind of had a good foundation for what sort I wanted to do. But he was like, you know what grandson, like, you should definitely look into the opposite spectrum. So I was like, I never thought about that. So I did some research. And he helped me out as well saw that Western Carolina did not have ROTC program. So I looked into it more, I found that UNC Charlotte did, and I was like, You know what, I'm packing my bags. And you know, I'm trying to make this thing work may be my roommate at Western, we both transferred to Charlotte, the same time. And ever since 2018. We've been? You know, I've been on my mission. Yeah, I think what's most impressive about what you said so far is that, you know, in high school at a very early age, you had a friend that almost challenged you to step up and take the honors classes. And then further after that, you had a family member get involved, and challenged you even further to Hey, why don't you consider going the military route? Not only that, but why don't you consider getting commissioned, and many people get those types of folks into their lives. But the problem is, is they don't typically Listen, or they don't see themselves as being that type of person that can take those challenges of those honor courses that you talked about, or can't really envision themselves as being a commissioned officer in the military. So that says a lot about you and your character. And as far as taking challenges, and maybe that that's why you were so competitive and playing varsity at, you know, sophomore, as a sophomore in high school, on your basketball team. And can you just tell me why you decided the army over all the other branches? So when it comes to the army, f Okay, so I tried the Air Force program at UNC Charlotte. I'm not going to knock on them. But there were some things that were done kind of behind the curtain, that were a bit disingenuous, but it is what it is. So the other optional campus was the Army ROTC program. So I listened to that, luckily, had some help from both sides getting me transitioned over. And I was a bit nervous. I was like, wait, you know, it's the army. I didn't I didn't know what to think too much. Think about it. Now. You know, my dad, obviously been, it's our foundation of like, kind of what that lifestyle is. And, you know, I was like, Well, I mean, he, he's been with me so far. But as far as kind of figure out this military aspect of things. And he knows Yami, but inside now, so I do have that support system. And interesting enough, I made a friend while I was at the Air Force for a little bit, and we're great buddies today. But when it comes to the army, like, I love the diversity, I love that it has the most jobs in the military. There's always something to choose from. And overall, the Army's had a lot of history. And for me, I like that in that pilot program where we have to do outside stuff, build stuff, tactics, leadership positions, things that I thought were really fundamental to being a leader inside of our military. So that from the jump kind of got me like, Okay, I'm all in. I want to see what you guys have. For me. That's kind of interesting, because there's a lot of people out there that are in college right now that don't know anything about the ROTC program. So, can you briefly talk about what ROTC is about and what was your experience like being in that program? So ROTC is a another route? Well, one of the routes that a college student can choose To become a Second Lieutenant within our United States Forces. Now with with that it's a four year program. Usually, I came in my junior year, transitioning from Air Force, I came my junior year. So it's, it's interesting because you're in college, and they know you're in college and you're doing your classes and you're handling your business on the front end. But you're also living a kind of, you know, double lifestyle with military stuff. We've had build trainings where we'd go out on weekends, and we would do run tactics, run lanes, and we would do all sorts of things, we would host host contracting events for new contract ease. So a lot of things that go into this color guard. There's Ranger, Ranger, Ranger team, that are like, excellent PT people. But for the most part, like I said, it's it's double life, you know, it's a lot to juggle with. And I would say, I wouldn't recommend it. If you're not fully committed to what you want to do. I always say this to people. If you really want to do something, that you're serious about it, you're going to make demands on yourself. And these demands are going to become things that drive you personally. interpersonally. So as long as you have that ambition to get what you want, and understand what you want, you know, you can do about anything. And that's this program is just one of those things. The good thing about it as well. You've got Qadri in CEOs, I've done this for years upon years, some different spectrums, you've got them from different branches as well within the job force. And they have a wealth of information for you. So if you ever feel like you don't understand things like the right next door. And for me, personally, what I cherish the most about my experience of the program was that I've met some of the greatest people as far as my fellow cadets at the time. And new second lieutenants. Absolutely amazing people. always been there for me, they've always been welcomed with open arms. It's a community, it's a family. It's a, it's a fraternity. It's what's whatever you make it really. So I always urge people that are serious about doing something like this to, you know, go ahead and join. But it's also competitive, too. It's not all you know, glitz and glamour. You're competing the entire time. So keep that on the front end as well. Yeah, I would say that. I also went through the ROTC program, I was agreeing to gold cadet, so I went from enlisted National Guard to active duty commissioned officer. And it was quite interesting, because when I jumped in my junior year, for those labs, they immediately started having me teach classes on day one, almost because of my enlisted time. The cadre that I had back then, and this is the early 2000s. We had one major that had served in Desert Storm. So he had a combat patch, your your cadre, did you have a lot of folks that had served in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom? I'm not sure sir. But I will say this. There's one cut number in particular, I'm not gonna say his name, but he's probably the biggest like, gung ho, like, the dude is a legend. In the Army Special, He's a legend. He's got a lot of great things. And he's built a legacy within the army. And it was great to meet him. And there's lots of party members like that. Solid individuals, men and women that have served that have done things that I aspire to do. I will say this, like, like it was speaking of coming in and getting leadership roles. You know, when I first came in, like I said, I'm not doing really much that first semester that I came in, I had to be a PhD, for come up with things during sex jfc x. So we're out in the weekend for three nights, two nights and you know, half a day, man, we're, you know, running lanes to Atlanta and all that good stuff. in me, I have no idea what's going on. But the beautiful thing about it was that this battalion had faith in me, they saw like, could be, they want to exploit my talents. So I really buckled down. I was like, You know what, I can do this, and I didn't do that bad. It was a good time. The next semester, going into my senior year, I was the first sergeant for an entire company. And honestly, like using what I learned from being a PSG, and using that kind of as my foundation for being a first sergeant, it was a great experience. I love training and coaching up the young freshmen and sophomores that were in my company and guiding them in anything they needed to do. I love the pressures that came with it. And I'll say this for anybody as well, that joins this program. You're going to be putting in a lot of uncomfortable situations. You're going to be sitting in front of a lot of people, public speaking, got to get used to it. You're going to be nervous, you're going to be shot but the same time. I think that builds a lot of character and ambition within yourself. And it builds a lot of confidence. Because that's really what it comes down to, is knowing that you can do this knowing that no matter what, your peers got your back and they want to hear and listen from you. And you have to give orders and be comfortable with it. Be comfortable with being uncomfortable. That's one of the biggest things I've learned those positions, you're just talking about being first sergeant, being in charge of folks, you're not supposed to be comfortable, you're not supposed to be a pro at it, the best place to learn is when you're in training. And so the I think what's best about the military is how they teach you how to multitask. So I can speak from my experience, I don't know if it was the same for you. But when I was in ROTC, I was in college taking 18 to 20 hours, you know, per quarter, I was doing PT three times a week, I had a part time job. And I was going to like I was part of Ranger challenge and all that other stuff that they they basically voluntold me to do, just because I wanted to be a part of the program. You have to learn how to study how to work hard, play hard. And all that stuff is that similar to what the experience that you had in ROTC 100% were so when I came back in 2018, a first time in Charlotte, I got a job week before classes started. So you know, I hit the ground running, I had to make sure I had some income coming in. I had to make sure and I just quit like, a couple months ago. So I've been with him for you know, a minute. But yeah, like I said, I had, I had to work part time, I had, I would think believe 15 credit hours, at least semester had to kind of catch up because the schools classes from Western didn't transfer fully to Charlotte. So I had to kind of find a new major, and get back on it. So it's stressful. Like I said, it's it's one of those things that you have to want to do. You know, it's, I'll say that anybody can do it. That wants to that that truly wants to. And, you know, it's like I said, like speaking of free, like ukp I mean, that's a lot, man, I don't have that much on the table. I can only imagine. But yeah, like I say it's, it's tough. So, gotta find a way and studying you. She been up to three in the morning and have to get up at 530 for PT stuff. You know, that was the one thing that I when we were doing those six to eight mile runs, you know, for Ranger challenge and stuff. You know, Monday, Wednesdays and Friday mornings, that's the one thing I would try to motivate people would I would try to I would tell them like, while we're running out, it's telling me nobody's working harder than you today. All those kids in class that you're gonna see all day, they didn't get up this time. They're not running 68 miles. And then you know, that, that that mentality of like thinking that way of, you're the hardest working person on campus today. And having that pride of walking around campus is something that I kind of wore on my shoulder as well. And you mentioned earlier about, you know, being comfortable in front of people. That's command presence. That's something that you're going to be doing a lot. Being a platoon leader in the army, sir, do you think you're ready to stand up in front of your your formation and take command? Interesting enough? KP, this is just me. I've always been comfortable with talking to people. Even from a young age, that's been one of my kind of hallmarks. In middle school, I wouldn't talk male. Because I was like the most vocal in the classroom. And you know, all that good stuff in high school, I took public speaking I had, even we had presentations I was gonna do, I was always the first one to raise my hand and be like, you know what, let me go ahead and get out the way and set the tone. You know, people hate it, because it was like, dang, yeah, it was gonna back up their purchasing habits on top that. So yeah, I'm with your aim, your natural leader. I mean, essentially, that's why you played varsity at a young age. And I'm sure that a lot of your classmates looked at you as someone to look, look at and try to emulate. And I just want to ask you, Jordan, who do you think taught you to think big and create your goals at an early age? Well, I'll tell you, I've had, I've had two men in my life that influenced me for the most part. Even though my mom and my my biological biological father weren't together. I knew that my dad always loved me. And he always instilled confidence in me, no matter where he was at. He was out of my life for a short period of time in elementary school, but in middle school, he came back to South Carolina, and he's been there ever since I've been reconnected with them. And he's always even when I didn't think that much of myself. He always gave me this kind of instill confidence. Like you're a player. You got this like one of the big things that kind of I got from him was and that kind of putting my own perspective is that life happens out there. Nothing that you want will come to you. You got to go out and get it and you got to grind Me, My brothers, and we've all still that kind of mindset. Now also, I would say my stepdad, he was also a he, it was interesting. So our relationship wasn't super close, kind of growing up. But I've always respected him even more now, as I got older, he was a rock, solid dude worked hard every day, and made sure that things taken care of. And when again, he was interesting, too, because he liked to read at one point in my life, from middle school to like freshman year, you know, we would just have house reading time, I used to base enjoy reading, I used to get books and just, you know, like, a lot of fantasy books, and read for a couple hours. And yeah, like that he always take us places. So I've had men in to this day, those two men have been helping me every step of the way. And I give them so much gratitude. So I've had many, many my grandfather, of course, I mean, that man, that man is stuck to it. Every to this point, like To this day, I will say him, he has been solid with me ever since even when there's times where I've kind of just like, distance myself. He's always found this way to be like, hey, my grandson like, I'm here for you no matter what, like, you're good. You know, so I've had solid dudes around me, my mom, you know, and all them. Love My ladies in my life. Great women across the board. But I would say I had I had a solid foundation of adults around me. That's absolutely amazing. It's really important to that. It's not just enough to have the right type of people around you. But you have to be the type of person that's also going to be willing and able to listen and apply a lot of the advice that you get. So I think that that chemistry is really important. And I want to ask you lt from where you are now. What's your Learning and Leadership path before you meet your first your first platoon like where are you right now? Are you doing gold bar? Yes, sir. Right now, I actually got back from Fort Knox last week. I'm in processing. Right now I'm working at my school at UNC Charlotte is a gold bar recruiter. So essentially, I've been talking to college age, incoming cadets in the future more so high school level, and really just poking their brains. I've been working with one of the staff members and their name is Mr. Nash. Great dude, him and I have been kind of just working through paperwork so far bigger now how are we going to get these people in the program correctly, and set them up for the best way that they can integrate themselves within what we have going on. And I can say it's been a great experience, I mean, GM own office, it will make a few phone calls and shoot some emails to folks and a lot of a lot of eager people out there that want to give this a try. And I just want to be a helping hand. So it's been a great experience. So far. Yeah, I had some experience myself serving as gold bar. And one of the things that they made us do was they made me stand up because we were really heavy into recruiting nurses. And it was one of the most difficult things because you had to get people who would join the program who had the right GPA, but also willing to join the military and then could also do the physical fitness portion of it. And I would have to stand up in front of these basic nursing classes of like 150 to 200, mostly women. And I had to stand up there and talk to them about the Army ROTC program. And it you know, 23 years old, that was very, very unnerving. But it's something you had to be comfortable with. Because at some point, you were going to be standing in front of a bunch of soldiers. So it was a great learning experience for me. And I want to ask you going back to talking about the people that had an effect on your life, your mentors, how has the legacy of your mentors impacted the way you approach this next phase of your military career, it's tough. For me, even there was a point in time in life where I wasn't where I wanted to be. And it was a dark time for me mentally, emotionally. And I've always had them and now to get to where I'm at now, from Qadri to family, to friends and mentors that I have, I can't let them down. I'm trying to keep the train moving. And for me, it's a lot of pressure because these individuals, they've done a lot and especially my father winning NCO of the year at one point, well, he has a name, and I have his last name. So for me to be in a position to where I'll be in front of future soldiers and guiding them to pass they have to to excel their careers. It's a lot of pressure. I'm not gonna lie. It's one of those things, but it's good, though. It's good pressure. because it keeps you focused, and it keeps me from course. So yes, it's tough. Yeah, I can't Yeah, I can imagine that. You know, it's anyone that's ever gone to bat for me before. I've always thought about that. Making sure that I made it worth it. You know, if somebody is really, you know, put themselves out there to push for me to level up or go to the next level. I've often thought about, you know, those folks that that did go the extra mile for me, when you first get in front of your formation, your next Platoon, what's your message going to be? How are you going to address your platoon for the very first time? How do you plan on introducing yourself and displaying that command presence and letting them know who you are? Alright. Hello, everyone, I'm Lieutenant player, blessed and eager to be a part of what this battalion has going on this platoon in specific, I'll let you know that. I'm here to learn. And I'm here to guide I'm here to help and teach and be the best soldier mentor guidance that you guys can possibly have. I know that everybody has dreams, goals and ambitions here. Otherwise you wouldn't be here, I want you guys to be the best versions of yourself that you can be. Because that's overall, once you set the tone for the mission, there's an overarching mission that has to be accomplished at all times. With that in mind, I'm going to push you guys to be the best versions of yourself to accomplish that you guys help me, I'm always there for you. I'll be always there for you. From day one. I just wanna let you know that I'm here for you. Right to learn, sit back and learn. And take take this beast on and really just ride with y'all. On the the probably the best way to put it. But that's kind of how I have you know, honestly, that's the best way is just to come in and introduce yourself. And you know, let them know, Hey, I'm here to support I'm here to help you, I think one of the things that you're going to find really interesting is how you're going to be in charge of people 24 seven, so you're going to get those phone calls on Saturday nights, you're gonna get those phone calls on those weird hours, somebody's going through a personal issue at home, or somebody's getting in trouble. You know, that's, that doesn't happen. the civilian side, when you clock out of work, you know it and you go home, you get a DUI, your employer won't come and pick you up, you will Lieutenant player and your squad leaders will and your platoon sergeant will. And I think the most important thing is when you first get to your own perspective, right now, what's your initial rule going back as a new seller intended to try to gain in a better understanding for the culture of your unit? And you seem like the kind of person that's going to do exactly that. And I think the message that you have is perfect for what you're trying to accomplish as far as leadership wise, and what do you think your role is going to be compared to your platoon sergeant, your squad leaders like what role what's the number one role that you're going to take? So I would say my role coming in as new PL, I'm the planner, a lot of what my commanders have, as far as missions are boards, all that good stuff, I had to make it digestible, and make it attainable for everybody else. It's tough. We've done it in the RTC spectrum, but actually doing it 24 seven and kind of making it my lifestyle. It's interesting. Being a being the Pl, you're leading from the front and had to take on a lot of tasks responsibilities is definitely something that is very unique to the job. And working with a PhD, my PhD is going to be I hope the solid, you know, because they're going to be the ones that are like, you know, right there with me every step of the way. But for the most part, I mean, I'm the planner, starts with me, getting the mission out getting the task out for the day and making sure everybody's on foot. We in the example of leadership, everybody's looking forward, it all starts with me. So it's definitely gonna be interesting. Yeah, it's gonna be a great experience for you, you and many times, you don't realize it when you're already in it. But you look back at those times, you know, your platoon leader times and the experiences that you had, you're gonna look back Sunday, you're gonna be like, wow, that was that was that was intense. Like that was that was something special. And I didn't realize it at the time. But looking back now, I thought it was a lot of hard work, a lot of sacrifice. But I really appreciate those times. I think that's what you'll come to come to grips with eventually in time. And I want to ask you join, you seem like a very polished, young adult, very professional. I want to ask you, where do you want to be, or have accomplished in the next five years, the next five years. Hopefully, I'm Captain, honestly and I had this conversation with one of my fellow staff members a day, I want to be a little bit different. The album's is that many signal Rangers out there, or airborne signal guys and gals. So I definitely want to give that a shot. kind of put that patch on my shoulder and you know, have that had that kind of flex I guess. But I definitely want to be accomplished within the forces. 10 years, I would say hopefully by then I'll be a major. Hopefully by Then I have enough money to be able to start franchising. I've always had this kind of even, especially last year, I just kind of swapped the idea of possibly owning a chick fil a and was out there. But I know, chick fil a has not stopped business since the pandemic and whatnot, they've only been building. So I do want to get my hands on some of that. But yeah, like I said, If I fall in love with it, and things are only looking up, I love to make this 20 year career. And if not more, do you see yourself in a career in the military? Oh, like full like, for 2020 years. Ideally, I want to do the full 20 to get max benefits. But even me talking now, I don't have that much foresight. But I would like to make this a career, I do have ambitions as far as the business side of things. Now good thing with signal is that there are opportunities to get lots of certifications. And these certifications are going to really kind of put me in a space to where I can do certain things outside of the military. And I plan on doing the all good as many as I can do it myself kind of stick out more to the market. So I do happiness ambitions, in that on the side, like making kind of like side money, you're gonna have options, and having options and having that lateral mobility to leave the military and become a business owner. And to own a franchise is very much in the cards for you. And many people, I think when they joined the military, they think, Oh, well, I can't do this, or I can't do that. But if you look at some of the most accomplished folks out there, people have became musicians, actors, entertainers, things of that nature. And so you jumping into business, there's going to be a lot of opportunity for you whether you decide to stay in or not. And I want to ask you what, what are some of the milestones and achievements that you hope to conquer while you're in the military? So as far as milestones go, like I said, I want to be well decorated. I want to get my hands on as much schooling the military has to offer. I want to get my master's degree here next couple of years actually. Shoot, Lieutenant Colonel would be nice. That'd be that'd be very nice to get you. But yeah, I would like to definitely miss a couple years possibly be a ranger do airborne. And I know this might be a little bit out there. But I do. I do want to try I want to travel a lot of different places. My first choice actually was Italy. But I wasn't getting for it initially, which is fine. Like, I'm with it. Yeah, but for me, I want to I want to see countries in the Middle East. I'm, I'm curious. And I want to kind of see their lifestyle and what we're kind of doing over there, you know, and I just kind of want to get a better understanding of the world around me, for the most part, but I want to travel a lot of places. Carry on that work hard play hard mentality, you know, that you've had all through college, make sure you're accomplishing your education continuing that as well as you know, being successful in your positions and your leadership positions as well and enjoying enjoying life, you know, getting that balance of all, all three there together is is really important. And I want to make a suggestion that I interviewed a a former Army officer named Mike Lopez, who is a military outreach coordinator for Coursera. I interviewed him a few weeks ago, if you get a chance to listen to his podcast, he was a former signal officer who actually served in Afghanistan. And he has some really, really nice insights on, you know, something that you might want to take into consideration with you being a signal officer as well. But his interview really surprised me. He came out with a lot of things that I identified with and I had to think a lot more about after I was after I was done having our conversation for the podcast. And I want to ask you, tennis player. Do you have any advice for folks out there that may not see themselves as officer commissioned officer, or ROTC material? Maybe somebody that's in high school that may not have the GPA may not be in the most ideal situation or somebody that's currently in college? What advice would you give them to motivate them to understand that this is something that everyone can accomplished? I'll say this, even with what I've kind of gone through with life and the accomplishments that I've made. There are many times where I didn't feel like I was capable. I wasn't competent, and I wasn't able to do the things that I think I can do now. Through all the doubt that you do have. Really think think think about what you want. Think about what you desire. Think about where you see yourself, you know, and I get it there's a lot of people suffer these days with mental health. Me issues, financial issues, and things of that nature. And there's certain career paths that can kind of, you know, get you to that spectrum, Fast Money. It's out there, like the best money. But you know, what's out there, stability, income, and a family environment. Being able to travel as well, is one of those foundations that I think the military does a great job with. For anybody that's curious and able, that wants to do that. Just take a look at it. Be introspective with yourself, if you if you really want the best out of life, and you want the things that you desire, you know, those insecurities have to go, you know, I taught people back at home, they asked me stuff like this, and they're like Jordan, like NCIS was coming, like, I didn't see you was, you know, any of this. And I'm like, Hey, man, like, I didn't see that even like, you know, I just wake up and decide to do this. But at the same time, for me, I've always had this hunger to be more, because I could sit back, take the easy route, and let life just handle me and put me anywhere who wants to, you know, but that's not the way I want to take it, I want to be, I want to put, I want to have my hands on everything that I have going on for myself. I want to be able to navigate where I want to. And for those that want to do that. Do it 100%. And the army is a great place to start military is your place to start. I always advocate for it. And so when you have self doubts, and the world is telling you No, like this little challenge challenge, people say you can't do it shown. I tell you what, when when you accomplish stuff, and people tell you, you couldn't do it, that makes the reward a whole lot richer. On the you know, it just really does, you know, but yeah, I mean, like I say, I can't say anybody can do this. But anybody that's hungry enable. Sure. Okay. And I agree with you 100%, because I definitely was not college material, I was told in the high school that I was in college material by a guidance counselor, and wouldn't let me take any of those honors classes, I had to get almost straight A's, my, my junior year, to even be considered my senior year to take those honors classes. And, you know, honestly, I'm not mad. That's that was one of those situations where somebody challenged me, and you choose whether you step up, or you agree with them. And Jordan, you're going to have a lot of young enlisted folks and within your ranks, they're going to be looking to you for answers and advice. And I'm sure that you're going to give them the best that you have. And you have a lot of life experience to offer as well. And for anyone out there that's listening. And they're interested in connecting with you. Are you on LinkedIn or Instagram? What social platforms do you use? Um, so for the most part, I use Instagram, my Instagram is Jay play 97. Instagram is the best way to go to reach me. But yeah, like I said, I'm always down to help those that need it. And to go back to the original question. Um, one one thing too is this, it's, it's hard to be successful. When it's just you, when you have a circle of people that are on the same, same ambition, same goals, same drive that you want to get to, or you need to do is have a melting pot for success. And really look at your circle and look at your friends, look at your family, those that are where they are, where they're at. And are you happy being there? Do you want to be there, you know, really asked in demand more of yourself and those around you. But yeah, like I said, Instagram is the best way to reach me, I'm always down to help out anybody that's aspiring to do this route in the military. And yeah, so my handle is Jay play 97 Alright, folks, well, if you are an aspiring future military leader, and you'd like to have more information about Lieutenant player's journey, you can reach him on Instagram. And, you know, find out more information on you know, where he's at, and what's going on, but also follow him on Instagram as well, because he's got a very insightful journey ahead of him in leadership. And it kind of makes me smile to think about, you know, you being a platoon leader, because I was there one time too, and I know what it felt like, and my experience was in Iraq. That was my first platoon and there was no, there was no garrison for me. So for you, at least you get that get that training environment and that and that's a good thing. So I really appreciate your time today, Lieutenant player, I'm looking forward to keeping in contact with you and keeping tabs on you and and seeing you through to getting that captain in that major and that Lieutenant Colonel and and who knows, man, maybe someday that general rank. Amen. I'm all for it. Thank you KP for having me. dream big. Thank you for for joining us today. And for folks out there. Thank you for listening, I really appreciate your time. You can always see yourself as someone like Jordan player if you're a young, aspiring future military leader. Take Jordans advice today into consideration and, you know, challenge yourself. Don't try to look for those positions that make you comfortable. put yourself out there and learn something new. I want to thank you for joining us on the morning formation. As for Jordan, I'm KP and we're out