For me, leaving the Marine Corps was more disorienting than returning home.
I ended up going to Dartmouth, and I did Marine Officer Candidate School during my junior summer.
I never thought anyone would pity me because of my time in the Marine Corps.
When I was in Marine training I memorised 'The Waste Land,' which was a significant experience in terms of really breaking apart language and thinking about how the different voices in that poem function.
In the Marine Corps, you meet this really broad segment of the country; you're working with people from all kinds of backgrounds. And it exposes you to the American military, particularly the American military at war.