Paige Benjamin, 32, joined the Army before she even graduated high school. The product of a military family, she was proud to serve her country. After enduring basic training in South Carolina while Hurricane Katrina devastated Florida and Louisiana, she was deployed to Camp Taji in Iraq, where she spent 15 months.

Her experience in Iraq is one she rather not delve into, but the repercussions are all too real. After returning from deployment, her unit was disbanded, leaving her feeling sad and empty. Yet what she thought was simply sorrow was in fact anxiety and depression. While stationed at Ft. Drum, NY. 10th Mountain Infantry Division, Benjamin was diagnosed with an adjustment disorder with depressive mood and began therapy.

Faced with redeployment and more heartache after losing several combat buddies along the way, she decided that the best thing for her mental wellbeing was to separate and go into the Army Reserves. Her first week back home, she found it hard to sleep and sought treatment. She was diagnosed with PTSD. With the help of therapy and medication, her mood lifted, and she enrolled at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette. Then, two years into her degree, she got pregnant.

Her pregnancy created a sense of fear for her unborn child and her mental health suffered. The experience affected her grades and after giving birth to Chynna, now 8, she struggled with post-partum depression. It took her a year to go back to school. A second pregnancy also resulted in depression and after having her son Terrel, now 6, she underwent surgery for a cyst in her breast.

“PTSD affects every part of your life so being pregnant added another layer to my illness. Prior to my pregnancy, I experienced a lot of loss and change I found hard to process. The thought of bringing a child into a world I had little control of scared me more than ever,” Benjamin tells BabyGaga. “I struggled post-pregnancy because I battled with undiagnosed postpartum, as a lot of women do. I felt as if I wasn’t a good mom for sometimes feeling sad that I was a mom. Every dip and low point intensified as it sat front seat in my life alongside PTSD.”

Despite her setbacks, Benjamin has managed to keep her grades up and make the Dean’s List, yet with two children and little financial help, it has been an uphill battle. Now, two semesters away from getting her degree, her GI Bill has run out and she is drowning in student loan debt.

Recently, Benjamin connected with Race Imboden, 26, a three-time Pan American fencing champion, who won a Bronze Medal at the 2016 Summer Olympics, and an activist. Imboden has helped spread Benjamin’s story and set up a GoFundMe page to finance her education.

“I saw a clip of Race kneeling in support of equality for ALL people. At that point, I followed him on social media. I started a GoFundMe around Veteran's Day last year after I realized Spring 2019 would be my last semester,” Benjamin tells BabyGaga. “I was so devastated and didn’t know what to do. I sent Race a message on Instagram, just telling him my story and asking him to share, donate, or whatever he could do to help. He answered me back! I was so elated and filled with joy, I cried for the first 15 mins of our first conversation.”

“I had multiple conversations with Paige and got to know her personally before helping with this project. I am happy to stand behind Paige and help her just like I hope many of you are willing to too,” Imboden says. “She is so deserving and excited to be able to finish school, help other veterans, and provide the best life for her children. Paige asked me to help her raise 11,500$ for schooling, I added 10,000 dollars on top of that to help her pay off her student loans.”

As to what her future holds, Benjamin has decided to pursue a career in psychology because she wants to help others heal. “To heal with compassion and empathy. I think psychology is about helping people be true to themselves so they can live in that peace. I would like to work with my brothers and sisters in arms suffering from PTSD. I think I am a walking testimony of hope to another veteran suffering, they can see its possible that they can be ok,” she tells BabyGaga.

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As for what advice Benjamin would give others dealing with PTSD, “I would say, ‘Let it out, openly and honestly, to someone.’ I think the hardest part when suffering from PTSD is to talk about it, openly and honestly with someone. Once we can talk about it, we can process it, and transition out of the pain and into the peace. Every day won’t be perfect, but every day is a transition into who you want to be, and that’s OK.”