The Johnsonian

Issue date: 4/8/08 Section: News

Melissa Knudstrup, a philosophy major, reads for class at her home near campus. Knudstrup came to Winthrop after a busy career as a soldier, then a waitress, then a chef.

Picture war veterans as battle-scarred, war-battered, rambling-on old men? Then take a look at Melissa Knudstrup, a philosophy major at Winthrop. You might be pretty surprised.

She keeps an unexpected secret, well barred behind her fierce and challenging green eyes. Her flesh doesn't show any mark, but her mind wears a deep and strong heritage that books and thoughts could have never worked up.

Knudstrup was a soldier.

She served in the military as a specialist during the Afghanistan and Iraq wars, the two after-effects of the notorious 9/11. Her experience as a U.S. Army radio specialist toughened her body, built her mind and changed her life forever.

Eight years ago, a military officer came to her hometown of Lexington, S.C., and told her tales of pride, strength and commitment. He promised her money and discipline, two things she lacked and really missed at the time.

"I joined the army because the sergeant recruiter was really convincing," she said.

After four months of initial training at Fort Jackson in Columbia, she was packing her things to move in to her new home, the military base of Presidio of Monterrey in Monterrey, Calif. A new life started for her.

First days were terrifying. The training was harsh, "very real," she said, especially for female soldiers. In Knudstrup's opinion, women have difficulties reaching some physiological standards, such as throwing a grenade the same distance as a man. Female soldiers have strengths of their own, but officers do not always consider them.

"There is an obvious gap between male and female during training," she said.

Nonetheless, harsh doesn't mean impossible. Knudstrup and her fellow soldiers worked hard to overcome the difficulties, weaving strong links as they struggled together against adversity.

During her two years of training, Knudstrup became more disciplined, more structured. The mind she built in the military carried over when she left, as she realized a career in the military was not how she had dreamt it.

Back to her hometown of Lexington, she became a bartender at the Cuban restaurant Carliana's Café. This transition was not easy, as merging her former and new life had some backsides.

Continued...

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