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Growing up in small-town Alberta, Justin Holtham’s choices after high school were college or the trades.

The 19-year-old opted for neither. In 2003, with 9/11 fresh on his mind, he signed up to join the Canadian Armed Forces, serving for seven years, including two overseas tours in Afghanistan with the 3rd Battalion Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry.

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While many of his peers worried about their GPAs and finding their way around a new campus, Holtham conducted village searches in a foreign land, looked for Taliban fighters and cleared IEDs.

In 2009, he left the military and found the return to civilian life a daunting experience.

“You just become lost,” said Holtham. “You’re not 18 or 19 going to school anymore. After spending years in the military, there’s no guidance. I didn’t know where to go, what I’m interested in, and what I can do.”

He sought assistance from Veteran Affairs’ vocational rehabilitation program, which offers returning soldiers career coaching, financial support and job-search assistance, but felt boxed in and going nowhere, like “churning butter,” he said.