Nova Scotia/Nunavut Command of The Royal Canadian Legion www.ns.legion.ca 57 continued ... It was 2009. Yuna Hur thought that after high school, she would pursue her education in fashion management to become a fashion entrepreneur. She had even applied to study fashion management in the United States. Her life took an unexpected turn after joining her friends on a visit to the CAF Recruitment centre. “I’m not going to lie, I followed my friends and I saw the military as a résumé booster,” she says. As a first generation immigrant from South Korea with no family history of military service, Hur knew very little about what she wanted to do in the CAF. A short discussion with a recruiter about her career goals set her on a new path. She would join the Air Force with a newfound interest in becoming a logistics officer, an air traffic controller or a pilot. Hur found herself in basic training and learning French at St-Jean-sur-Richelieu, QC the next year. Aweek hadn’t gone by that, much to her surprise, she was told there had been a mistake, that she should have been assigned to the Navy instead. “Still to this day, I’m not really sure what happened. So, I went ‘okay’, I didn’t know anything about the military at that point. I was just saying yes to all the people that were wearing the uniform.” The next four years were spent acquiring her bachelor’s degree at the Royal Military College (RMC). In the summer time, she would train with the Navy. Used to being a top student, Hur hit a wall on her second year: “I actually ended up failing a school year during my undergrad because I didn’t know how to deal with failure. I had just left my parent’s nest straight to RMC. Having that little “dip” and repeating that second year, that’s where I did a lot of growing up. That’s where I learned to be humble.” Yuna Hur was headed for a career in fashion. She had never thought of serving until one day, she tagged along with friends to a Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) Recruiting centre. This visit completely altered her career course. Eleven years later, she has no regrets. Lieutenant (N) Yuna Hur Halifax, Nova Scotia
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