CPT Arlyn Medendorp, U.S. Army

I come from a long family history of bold, adventurous, and fearless military service members that dates back 6 generations. I was born in Germany to incredible Filipino parents who found each other in the 1970s living abroad to support their siblings and parents back home in the Philippines. My mother is the oldest of six children who is now a retired Registered Nurse. My father was one of nine children and served both in the Philippines and United States military. I chose to blend both of my parent's professions as my career. I consider myself as a west coast kid with southern charm. I started off living overseas and then the majority of my childhood was spent in California, Washington and Texas. Once we arrived in the U.S. our family had to learn to speak fluent English. I spoke German and Tagalog, which made for an interesting accent. I am a mother, a wife, an ICU nurse and a soldier. My son is my world and I feel so lucky to be his Mom. I have an enormous family and I enjoy spending my free time with close loved ones. I love to learn and travel as often as possible. We have a ton of frequent flyer miles being dual-military, geographically separated, with a toddler. I love to dance, watch movies in the theater, and anything that involves being creative.

My father was in the military from the age of 18 until 62 years old and my mother was a nurse for 40 years. I am the youngest in my family with an older sister. Being raised by a Drill Sergeant was not easy. I had room inspections, learned to read topography maps, and played land navigation as a child. I even had to do 20 perfect push ups before going to sleep when I was 9 years old. I used to think my father was treating me like a boy but what he was really doing was prepping me to be a strong woman. I did not know those things were military related until I joined Army ROTC. My father would tell me about his time in Vietnam and the sacrifices he made for our family. I knew I wanted to help others and be a nurse like my mom but I was not sure that I could make it in the Army. Then tragedy struck the nation. I was 18 years old and a freshman in college when 9/11 happened. It was the turning point for me and I decided to pursue my family tradition to serve my country.

My favorite memory in the military was the day I commissioned and had my father as my first salute. When I look back at the past 8 years, I have learned so much about myself and what the military has given me. I made friends for life, furthered my education, and saved lives. It has been an incredible journey and I am thankful for the relationships and lessons learned throughout the years.

I choose to serve in the U.S. Army because it gives me the opportunity to give back to my community. I knew growing up that I wanted to make the biggest positive impact with the greatest amount of people. I wanted to make my family proud and bring honor to our family name. Being an Army Nurse Corps Officer has allowed me to help people heal and pay it forward to the future of Army Nursing. I serve my country for God, my family, and my brothers and sisters in arms from the past, present, and future.

I want my legacy to demonstrate selfless service, perseverance, and grit. There are plenty of assumptions of what Army Nurses do and the stereotypes that go with that. I was told early in my career to be less feminine and be more androgynous. At first, I found the comment to be crass and confusing. Then I thought it was a ridiculous comment. I am very feminine and proud of it! I hope to be a positive role model for others and encourage them to absolutely be who they are inside regardless of adversity and challenges. I hope to inspire women to be courageous, true to themselves, and to help others.

Our job as Army Nurses is to take care of military service members, dependents, retires and civilians 24 hours a day 7 days a week in multiple different settings. We have witnessed miracles and hardships of others while enduring our own demands of life. There are wonderful days and then there are challenging days emotionally, mentally, and physically. It is crucial to take time for yourself because nurses end up as patients too one day. Balancing family, work, and life in general is achievable. I have been fortunate to have mentors that helped guide me throughout my career. Each person's journey is their own and I aspire to make my journey bold, adventurous, fearless, and an extraordinary one.