Semester

Spring

Date of Graduation

2026

Document Type

MFA Creative Writing Thesis (Campus Access)

Degree Type

MFA

College

Eberly College of Arts and Sciences

Department

English

Committee Chair

Mark Brazaitis

Committee Member

Sarah Morris

Committee Member

Brian Broome

Abstract

War All The Time is a raw and timely look at modern masculinity that offers an alternative to the “man-o-sphere” definition of manliness, which is largely dominated by podcast hosts, combative politicians, and Conservative comedians. I served in the Marine Corps for nearly eight years, completing deployments to Iraq, Afghanistan, Japan, and South Korea. When I left the Marines with undiagnosed PTSD to attend college, I found myself working and taking on more and more responsibilities until, while running for State Representative in North Dakota, I had a mental breakdown and didn’t leave my apartment for three weeks. When I went to the VA and asked for help, they diagnosed me with PTSD, depression, and anxiety. Over the next eight years I won and resigned from public office, became TikTok famous as a Van Life influencer during Covid, and began running ultramarathons up to 100k in distance. All of these things, to one degree or another, succeeded in helping me to mask or deny or confront my suicidal ideation, my urge to binge thousands of calories in minutes or starve myself for days on end, and to fit the paradigm of what a “real man” looks and talks and acts like.

While going through these things, I turned to memoirs that shared personal stories about struggles similar to my own. Seeing parts of myself in these books, stories about men confronting and overcoming mental health issues like PTSD, depression, anxiety, and eating disorders, played a huge role in my own healing and recovery. I used these examples to structure War All The Time’s exploration of men’s issues, especially those that can feel taboo or off-limits for men to discuss openly.

War All The Time is a story of how PTSD, depression, anxiety, and eating disorders overtook my life after lying dormant for years. But it also uncovers a powerful resolve to heal after experiencing traumatic events, and doing so in a thoughtful and compassionate way that offers an alternative to the often touted “suck it up” or “get over it” solution “man-o-sphere” influencers advocate for. Reframing masculinity is especially crucial in the current political environment. As more and more young men enter the professional world, facing hardship and struggle and crises of identity, the need for personal stories about similar men overcoming adversity in healthy, constructive ways will only become more prevalent, adding to War All The Time’s already wide audience.

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