Actress Carly Schroeder is leaving Hollywood behind and enlisting in the U.S. Army with an eye toward helping people.

The 28-year-old who played Melina Bianco in 12 episodes in the Disney Channel series told TMZ that she has been considering a “big choice” for her life for some time.

“I’ve been considering it for a while and it is a big choice, but thankfully my parents and my little brother were very supportive of me,” Carly Schroeder said. “My dad was actually in the Army, he was a Green Beret medic, and my little brother Hunter, he’s in the Marines now.”

Schroeder also said that she hopes her stint in the Army will help lead her to begin working to help people and maybe lead to a career in working to thwart human trafficking.

“On a more tangible micro level, there is human trafficking occurring within the United States. I’ve written papers, spread awareness and as an Army Officer I intend to learn skills I can later apply when I’m on a team helping these victims,” she wrote on Instagram.

The actress has already undergone several military-styled training programs ahead of enlisting and in a recent Instagram post she noted how exciting her acting career has been but insisted it is time to do something more meaningful with her life, Fox News reported.

“For 22 years, I’ve played dress up for a living. As an actress I’ve been kidnapped, gone blind, nearly eaten by lions and murdered on more than one occasion,” Carly Schroeder wrote. “I tormented Lizzie McGuire’s little brother on the Disney Channel, was a dolphin trainer, the first female soccer player on an all boys team and Harrison Ford once rescued me during an intense home invasion.”

“That’s exciting and all, but in January I decided to raise my right hand and swear into the United States Army,” she added. “With a college degree from @callutheran in Criminal Justice, an ASVAB score of 92, and qualifying PFTs… I was accepted into Army #OCS (Officer Candidate School).”

“Serving my country will give my voice more validity,” Schroeder concluded. “I can better serve and advocate for veterans once I am a part of their community,” she added. “The military is a family and family always has each others back.”

Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.