Military Service
U.S. Navy Petty Officer First Class
Experience
7 years served
Future
Seeking a career in government, policy, & international affairs
Location
Claremont, CA
About Jordan
-Working on a Ph.D. in Political Science at Claremont Graduate University and searching for a mentor to overcome anxieties in writing and publishing. I intend to write my dissertation on evaluating policies & institutions for their ability to fulfill Maslow's Hierarchy from a comparative perspective to create an index of performance, common themes across effective institutions at various levels of development, and a political platform that I can use to advise candidates, lobby policymakers, or for my own campaign in the future.
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- I often feel my ideas are either too wide in scope or seem of little contribution to academia, and this is mostly due to negative self-talk or self-doubt after a moderately severe brain injury in August 2016. As much as I despised excessive oversight from supervisors when I was still in, it is now hard for me to step away from that structure in grad school. My ideal mentor will be a professor in Poli Sci or Psych (among a few other overlapping fields), offer me guidance through the publishing & dissertation process, hold a sincere interest in applying the theories of Maslow to political science, and be skilled in guiding students with disabilities.
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- I went through a mediocre k-12 school district where I was somewhat bored and rebellious until the last two years of high school when I found love in politics & activism. Activism took a back seat while in the military. My brother inspired me to join the military after he joined in 2002 and went on three deployments before being medically discharged and later earning the Bronze Star. I left for boot camp in July 2011, became a Master-at-Arms (military police), and arrived in Bahrain in November 2011 - the day after spending my 19th birthday on the flight over. Fortunately, I found great mentors nearly immediately that are still among my most trusted friends, and I was able to rank up quickly by doing base security, emergency dispatch, field training, and anti-terrorism planning. I began pursuing an education with the University of Maryland Global Campus, one of the most common universities on military bases, and the opportunity to learn a little Arabic was incredibly useful. This set me up well for my second set of orders for executive protection, also in Bahrain.
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- At 21, I felt incredibly fulfilled with meaningful work protecting U.S. & allied high-risk personnel in Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, and Pakistan. Given the developments of 2014, we had very long days. Monster & Red Bull began to do wonders on my stomach, so I finally grew up and started drinking coffee quickly. As the year passed, I evolved from frappuccinos with extra espresso to my beloved white chocolate mochas, and I ended strong & saved money when I eventually was the one making coffee most mornings. More importantly, that team was the best team I have been on, and I am dedicated to finding or creating a team as cohesive and collaborative in my research & future political work. I had several amazing mentors, and the first guy that I hated on the team (and I mean that) became one of my best friends through the obstacles we overcame together.
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- In February 2015, I reported to my last assignment in Seal Beach, CA. I fell in love with Southern California almost instantly, but traffic and housing prices are the exceptions to that love. In December 2015, I was promoted to E-6 and led the security team for my shift until a motorcycle accident in August 2016 at 430am on my way to work that resulted in my brain injury, leg injuries, among several others. I woke up 10 days later thinking my parents flew to California to play a prank on me and being unable to name five vegetables. I was in three different hospitals over five weeks and my doctors were skeptical I would ever walk independently again or be able to finish my bachelor's degree.
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- I did not return to "full-time work" until six months after the accident when I was cleared to drive. I was then responsible for receiving newly reporting personnel, assisting them with check-in, getting them trained on basic operations, and familiarizing them with the base. My groups radically ranged in size from 2 to 18, but I felt fulfilled and trusted by my leadership when I deviated from common practices that did not let people take time to obtain transportation and set up other common elements in life after a move back to the U.S. from overseas. I am most proud of setting an inclusive and flexible check-in schedule that significantly improved quality of life, training quality, and time to initial qualification (3-4 weeks down from 8-10 weeks after arrival). I did not feel as important as being a bodyguard, but I did feel just as fulfilled being able to help, care about, and train new peers. After our yearlong surge of new personnel, I worked in anti-terrorism planning and was approved for an internship with a local Congressional office through a military program meant to prepare wounded servicemembers for the transition to civilian life. Throughout this time, at the advice of my neuropsychologist, I eased back into online college starting with single, low-level classes to build my cognitive stamina and guide the rewiring of my brain. After six years of on & off college, I graduated in 2018 with a 4.0 and was accepted to pursue my dream of earning a research doctorate.
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- Since leaving the military, it is rare that I feel fulfilled or that I am helping people, but I also want to invest in myself, be able to contribute to academia, be a thought leader, and obtain knowledge that I feel will best prepare me to be a public servant-leader. I want to carry my success of building trust in the military (up & down the ladder) to make or influence positive changes into government & politics. It is very difficult for me because I feel like I am taking a back seat when there is so much we can improve in this world, so I need help slowing down, zooming out, and being able to focus on the bigger picture rather than feeling a need to do always do more - or at least help finding what "more" will be valuable to my education & research.
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- I love playing board games with family & friends, and I prefer long or a little more complicated games like Risk or Settlers of Catan if I can convince everyone. I have one of the most adorable and loving pitbulls out there, Whiskey. He loves giving kisses and cuddling, but he will jump all over you if you are excited to meet him or offering him some good pets. Ice hockey is my favorite sport, and I got to see sports history made in person for the first time at the 2019 AHL all-star skills competition when I saw Martin Frk beat both the AHL & NHL records with 109mph! I have a favorite team, but really I just love to see hockey being played well. I am originally from Iowa, so having the nation's first caucuses was one element that drew my interest in politics. Australia was the first foreign country I visited, and I have yet to see Canada or Mexico in person.