One of Us is Going to Win the War.” He was right about that. Diane L. Beasley is a military spouse, artist, and author. She taught English for 15 years in the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. She is the author of three nonfiction books, four adult fiction novels, a children’s fiction novel, and an adult book of poetry. Her writing has appeared in many publications, including The New York Times, AARP The Magazine, The Washington Post, The Christian Science Monitor, USA Today, Reader’s Digest, Parade, and USA Weekend. Diane has been at the forefront of the military-families’ writing movement and has been a leader in the military-family writing community since 2001. In 2003, she began the online magazine, Military Spouse. In addition to producing a magazine for military-spouse writers, she also works with writers through the online magazine, Write the Walls. Diane recently retired as Editor-in-Chief of Military Spouse magazine and continues to write the column, SpouseTrends and is an Adjunct Professor for Pikes Peak Community College. Diane’s nonfiction book, “The Secret Language of Leadership: Words That Influence Human Behavior” (2005) was a #1 best-seller at Amazon. She holds a BS degree in Elementary Education, a MA degree in Counseling/Social Work, and a MFA degree in Creative Writing from The University of Nebraska. She has been a member of the Writers Guild of America since 2003 and won the 2014 Best Nonfiction Authors Contest. She currently lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Diane is the founder and administrator of a nonprofit organization, the Purple Heart Writers & Writers House in Colorado Springs. She serves on the Board of Directors for A Soldier’s Heart in Denver, Colorado. She serves as a member of the Advisory Council of the Women’s Commission of the U.S. Department of Defense, and she has served on the Board of Directors for both the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. Diane Beasley is a military spouse, artist, and author. She taught English for 15 years in the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. She is the author of three nonfiction books, four adult fiction novels, a children’s fiction novel, and an adult book of poetry. Her writing has appeared in many publications, including The New York Times, AARP The Magazine, The Washington Post, The Christian Science Monitor, USA Today, Reader’s Digest, Parade, and USA Weekend. Diane has been at the forefront of the military-families’ writing movement and has been a leader in the military-family writing community since 2001. In 2003, she began the online magazine, Military Spouse. In addition to producing a magazine for military-spouse writers, she also works with writers through the online magazine, Write the Walls. Diane recently retired as Editor-in-Chief of Military Spouse magazine and continues to write the column, SpouseTrends and is an Adjunct Professor for Pikes Peak Community College. Diane’s nonfiction book, “The Secret Language of Leadership: Words That Influence Human Behavior” (2005) was a #1 best-seller at Amazon. She holds a BS degree in Elementary Education, a MA degree in Counseling/Social Work, and a MFA degree in Creative Writing from The University of Nebraska. She has been a member of the Writers Guild of America since 2003 and won the 2014 Best Nonfiction Authors Contest. She currently lives in Colorado Springs, Colorado. Diane is the founder and administrator of a nonprofit organization, the Purple Heart Writers & Writers House in Colorado Springs. She serves on the Board of Directors for A Soldier’s Heart in Denver, Colorado. She serves as a member of the Advisory Council of the Women’s Commission of the U.S. Department of Defense, and she has served on the Board of Directors for both the National Endowment for the Arts and the National Endowment for the Humanities. When it comes to “The War On Women,” it’s easy to tell which gender started the war—because the battle lines have been firmly drawn, and there has been a lot of back and forth on who was better off with which side. After six years of relentless war, some things have started to change—for instance, men are making more money and spending more on shopping. Women are becoming more involved in the economy, and, in one sense, taking a different approach to spending money. And for women who want it, education is within reach. It has changed drastically since I was in school. It’s easy for me to talk about it because I didn’t have to drop out of college to fight for equality. I was able to work toward the completion of my degree and get my BA from a four-year university. Even before college, I didn’t face discrimination from teachers in my school system, and I was able to complete an accelerated degree program. So I am living proof that women’s educational goals can be met with a will to learn and work at achieving their goals. It is no longer an impossible dream for young women to have an education and a career in an equal economy, and I think there is more room for young women to achieve their educational goals in the coming years. Most women have a story to tell about college life, whether it was good or bad. I certainly have one. I was admitted to West Point in the summer of 2004 after my first try, and I attended for four years. I made the decision to apply to West Point because I wanted a military-based education. I am a military brat, so military schools were going to be my only choice. Going to West Point was a great decision for me. I made my roommates laugh so hard it brought tears to their eyes with the sound of my voice when I first met them, and we became fast friends. As a freshman in college, I was still young and inexperienced and didn’t know the ins and outs of the college experience. I didn’t know anyone outside of campus life and had to work my way through school. I stayed away from the parties during freshman year because I didn’t know what to expect, and my experience the first time I went out to a frat party when I was in college was not a good one. I knew I was interested in different types of clubs, so I looked for groups on campus that were like that. At first, the groups were small and no one really cared about the fact that I was younger than other girls in my group. I looked forward to every time I would see the seniors from my high school and the other high schools on campus so we could get together and go shopping for school supplies or get a coffee or tea to chat about boys or whatever was going on in our lives. It was a great experience because we were all focused on one thing: the school. We could do all the other activities later. There were no distractions. In fact, it was so focused on one thing, and that was school, that it might be hard to imagine the types of things young people today do at college and still focus on school. As