“I was 17, and the next year I joined the Navy.”Nodar, a U.S. Navy veteran who served from 1987 to 1989 and is a 2006 USF alumnus, has built a life around two main guiding forces — faith and service. Nodar lived aboard the USS Midway, a lead carrier ship in the Indian Ocean, during his time in the Navy. He earned an associate of arts degree at Edison Community College in the late 1990s before enrolling at USF in 2000. Nodar has worked across many industries, including guest services, financial services, Medicare & Medicaid and protective services for children and adults. Throughout his life, Nodar said he learned to persevere through all hardships and has found God in his path through faith and mental preparedness.