Successful Transitioning Stories By Dr. Julie Ducharme www.synergylearninginstitute.org
AJ Gonzalez
AJ Gonzalez spent 21 years in the Navy retiring as a Chief Petty Officer. Before I get too far into this story, I have known AJ for about 13 years since he married my dear friend Katie. Katie was in my wedding 22 years ago as a bridesmaid. And to top it off, I got to be at Katie and AJ’s wedding when they jumped out of a plane together, skydived in and then walked over and got married right after they touched the ground. This couple is super fun! AJ and his wife Katie had lived in San Diego for years, but they decided that when he retired, they would move to Texas. My wife did it all while I was deployed, she bought the house and moved out a few months before I retired, she packed up the house and family all on her own and moved them out to our new home in Texas. And this was tough because all our support groups were gone. It was like starting over. But despite the big move and sudden changes it was the best place for us to be. 26
WWW.HomelandMagazine.com / February 2024
To be honest, when I retired, I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I was in a good place. I didn’t have to work but I wanted to, and there were lots of job opportunities given to me, but I decided I needed to just go home first, spend time with my wife and kids and start there. But very quickly I found myself bored out of my mind. I realized it was different being retired versus being on leave. And I found out quickly I needed to adjust and figure out what I wanted to do. It was tough at first, but I enjoyed being home and waking up every morning to my family. But I needed something, and I didn’t want to do a 9-5 and that is when I started getting into the stock market and becoming a trader and I loved that. I could have a flexible job and very slowly but surely, I realized I could do this. Two years later I have been trading and loving my job. Another thing I did for the first year was that I volunteered for everything I could think of, I started participating in the kid’s home schooling, and helped coaching teams, and helping at my local church. It took a lot of patience and time, and I didn’t have a routine, but I did figure it out. I stayed so busy the first year it helped me with the transition. Find things you are passionate about and volunteer that first year out of the military.