Sometimes, you have to make the choice to take a leap of faith and trust that you’re ready for whatever lies ahead. For Lt. Col. Dan Rooney, life has been full of those moments. He had to trust that he was ready to leave Stillwater—and a spot on the Oklahoma State golf team—to come to Kansas. He had to trust that he was ready to fly a fighter jet solo for the first time. And he had to trust that he was doing the right thing when he took the leap to start the Folds of Honor Foundation. But how did a childhood dream of a path less traveled lead to all these major moments? Rooney wanted to be a pro golfer and had to grind it out on the golf minitours to make enough money to follow his other dream: becoming a fighter pilot. And it was only after all that hard work—and multiple tours in Iraq—when a chance flight gave him a different calling. For Rooney, it was a chance to take that leap of faith, and go before he was ready. And based on the impact he and Folds of Honor have had, the timing couldn’t have been better.

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