Tearing down Walls, Building a New Foundation after Service

Tearing down Walls, building a new Foundation after Service

Women Veterans REBOOT Workshop
By Staci Reidinger, Nov 12, 2017

Nov. 10, 2017 - REBOOT Workshop Graduates

Motivational Signs set up around REBOOT Workshop

Bellus Academy making women veterans feel great!

Bellus Academy doing makeovers for REBOOT.

All the Bellus Academy volunteers for Operation Empower.

REBOOT workshop graduation day.

       Walls.  Security Blankets.  Compartmentalization.  Mission First.  What do they all have in common?  These are a few of the mechanisms many of us use to overcome adversity, block out negative viewpoints and deal with things outside of our control.  They help us to focus on our goals and to put aside unfavorable distractions.  But, these mechanisms can also limit our long-term happiness and success.  They can hold us back from reaching new heights, from taking bigger risks and from reaching our full potential.  For many serving in the military, these mechanisms have become a way of survival.

            Imagine serving overseas away from all of your family and friends.  Not being a part of your wife or husband’s life.  Not being in a relationship at all because you are gone for too long.  Missing birthday parties, graduations, weddings, funerals, soccer games, swim meets, baby’s first steps, or your daughter’s first baby.  In order to survive being away from your loved ones, you detach from the painful separation and dive heavily into work and relationships with those closest to you while deployed. This is a pattern of life away from home that keeps you going every day.   

This is a description of how many military members survive and thrive while in the military.  This is one of the big reasons why you may notice the bond that military members have while in uniform and as veterans.  Why some that leave the military feel like their comrades are closer to them than their blood relatives.  And it’s very noticeable after leaving service when military members feel isolated or feel like an outsider as they take off the uniform and assimilate back into civilian society.  What seemed like normal life in the military sometimes can impact our ability to reset our compass for success as civilians.

            Also try to picture working for an organization that has a very controlled operating structure, one that provides many support services for you and your family.  An organization that has a very heavy influence over your daily life from the clothes you wear and your work assignments to your pay, housing, meals and fitness.  An organization that expects you to uphold high standards as a service member 24/7, while on and off duty.  

   For many, these rituals and cultural norms make it easy to feel a sense of purpose, honor and sacrifice.  They make life hard but also a bit comfortable. In reality, military life also compels you to put aside your own passions for the greater defense of your nation.   Balancing your personal life and military commitments while on active duty can be tough for this reason.  And when it’s time to leave the military, when it’s time to move from what the military needs you to do to finally figuring out what you want to do, it can be a pretty intimidating decision.

          
  Well, for a group of San Diego-based military members and veterans, their outlook on life after service is very bright.  On Nov. 10, 2017, 12 military women graduated from the REBOOT Workshop as a part of the non-profit National Veteran’s Transition Services, Inc.  REBOOT is a three-week course offered in San Diego, Calif. helping active duty and veterans rediscover who they are, what obstacles are in the way to professional success and helping them develop a personal success plan that aligns with their intrinsic passions.  The goal of the course is to give military members the confidence and know-how to reach their career and personal goals after leaving the military.  The three weeks are broken down into: Personal Identity, Lifestyle Transition and Career Transition.  REBOOT is normally a mixed gender course but NVTSI also offers a few women’s only workshops annually. 

From speaking to a few of the participants and facilitators during the Oct. 23 to Nov. 10, 2017 workshop, the program is a life changer.

Lisa DiSabatino is a Navy Master Chief with over nine deployments and 27 years on active duty feels like this workshop helped make her dream of being a race car instructor more believable. 

“We went through a change of mindset and a change of personality in that we started to think bigger and think more positively. I actually quantified what I want to do,” Lisa DiSabatino said.  

Her passion for cars started as a kid and she loved working on cars before joining the military but what Lisa found unique about this experience is that she had the focused time to think about her passion as a potential career after leaving the military.  She has a few years before retiring and believes this workshop has given her the freedom to plan for the future.

Lisa added, “I have one more deployment and I think this will help in my career and be something past the Navy (to work towards).”

            Now some of the ladies in the course seemed skeptical at first to being in an all-women REBOOT class because of bad experiences working with women in the military. 

One participant said this was the first time she ever really connected and enjoyed being around a large group of military women. She felt like this course helped change her mind about military women and even better she felt like now she has group of sisters to reach out to over the coming months and years.

Open to both active duty and veterans, Anastasia Lane and her service dog Chewbacca attended REBOOT and are leaving with a sense of optimism and determination.  As a Navy veteran who served for six years and worked as an intel specialist in support of Seal Team 7 in Iraq in 2011, Anastasia said this workshop is priceless and really changed her life. 

“I’ve had problems with self-confidence and self-worth and this course really helped us break negative patterns of thinking,” Anastasia said.  “It helped you look at the past to see how it affected you and what you can learn from it, and how to change course and make your future whatever you want it to be,” she added.

            It was great to hear Anastasia applied for and will be starting a position with Father Joe’s Village in San Diego right after REBOOT.  She will be bringing Chewbacca with her to help other veterans.  And seeing that Chewbacca was the star of the workshop among the ladies, he will surely continue to make his mark in San Diego working alongside Anastasia Lane.

            The Women’s REBOOT workshop didn’t leave out any details in helping these ladies feel more confident and beautiful.  On the final day of the course, Operation Empower transformed these ladies out of their blue jeans into high heels, sharp outfits and a stunning hairstyles, makeup and nails.  This makeover day included before and after photos, LinkedIn professional portraits, image consulting, breakfast, lunch and a full beauty makeover as well as meditation and massages. 

By far, the NVTSI Women’s REBOOT Workshop is an amazing opportunity for our military veterans.  Now these women have the tools, poise and determination to make their post-military dreams a reality. And they have new friendships and a sense of purpose to help them along over the coming months and years. 

            For those interested in attending a future NVTSI REBOOT Workshop, please visit www.nvtsi.org or look for REBOOT Workshop on Facebook.   Also, for a full list of supporters and sponsors that helped make this REBOOT Workshop possible, visit the REBOOT Workshop Facebook Page.