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THE GIRL WITH THE COOLEST JOB EVER
A few years ago, when I was on vacation with my love, goes on vacation. we became friends with an intriguing couple. We drank ouzo, chatted deep into the night, went on excursions together, and promised to call each other at home for a little reunion. You always promise that a. and b. it actually happens rarely. But really, with this couple, I would love to sip a glass of red wine again.
He was young, successful, a lawyer, and wore a crisp white shirt the whole vacation. His jokes were charming, and his hairstyle and attitude were as badass as Harvey Specter in Suits. A cool guy, with an even cooler girlfriend. She was young, blonde, an absolute stunner. With short, well-groomed nails and fluttery dresses. She was sporty and had a figure that would make you say 'wow'. When I asked what she did in daily life, an answer came out that I did not expect. She worked at Defense.. Immediately, she had my attention.
“She wasn't really allowed to say too much, but put me and a bottle of wine in front of you, and before you know it, your life story bursts out.”
I hung on her every word throughout the vacation. One impressive story after another rolled out of her mouth, and for a moment, my press trips seemed incredibly snobbish and insignificant compared to her exciting missions with the Army. She wasn't really allowed to say too much, but put me and a bottle of wine in front of you, and before you know it, your life story bursts out. She talked about her training, her exercises, the secret missions for which no emails were allowed to be sent. The plans that were disguised to keep them secret for as long as possible. How she can trust the man or woman next to her blindly and vice versa. How background, gender, sexual orientation, or skin color never play a role within Defense.
I listened breathlessly and nodded here and there. Pretended I knew even a little about working at Defense while that really wasn't the case, and I immediately wondered why not. She mentioned that she is deployed both in the Netherlands and abroad for disasters, humanitarian aid, and combat operations. And that every day is different, making the work incredibly challenging. Proud but modest, she mentioned that she and her colleagues contribute daily to society and how terribly beautiful she finds that. She spoke with so much passion about her work that I suddenly began to doubt my job as a journalist at a serious news medium. And maybe, also thanks to her, I eventually switched to what I enjoy the most: writing stories. Now I can talk for hours about my work on vacation and explain why I have the coolest job in the universe.
“Prejudice 1: no, there are not only men working at Defense, there are also a lot of cool chicks.”
In short: thanks to my vacation friend, I started looking at Defense very differently. And it turned out I still had some prejudices about working in the Army. No, there are not only men working, there are also a lot of cool chicks. No, you don't only have to do scary things with a risk to your own life. There are hundreds of different positions in various fields. Therefore, I would like to show you a video of presenter Tess Milne. She interviewed ambitious women in the Army, and seriously, it's just that I drop out on the sporty part, but otherwise, I would almost consider a job switch. Almost, though.
