In season 21 of MTV's The Real World (The Real World Brooklyn), one of the cast members that really stands out is Ryan Conklin. Ryan is a 23 year old, currently from Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. What make him special is his experience as an army veteran who was deployed to Iraq for a year. Ryan had joined the army as an infantryman when he was only 17, signing up primarily because of his feelings about 9/11. While he was in Iraq, he saw his share of bad things. Now that he is back in civilian life, he he wants people to see him and other people that have served as normal kids and not robots.
What I really like about him is that he asks the big question that I have always had about the fighting in Iraq. After starting having missions Ryan realized it was "worthless". He would ask his lieutenant what was the point of just driving around and getting blown up. The reply was that they were out trying to win the hearts and minds of the Iraqis. Ryan expected an officer to say something like that to someone like him, but Ryan thought, this is stupid. Ryan said he got respect by speaking the truth but some time his mouth got him in trouble though he didn't care.
The military background is intriguing but besides that there are several other things that will make him interesting on the show. After four years in the army he wants to make up for lost time and now says he has become a party animal. He has a girlfriend named Michelle who he has been dating for six months. She's a student in Pittsburgh so it was already a long distance relationship. We know how those break up with sparks when someone strays. Ryan however thinks they will stay together as long as he doesn't f' up. He says that rather incredulously in the video below.
Ryan wants to do a lot of things. He has interest in film production and making music and maybe working with veteran affairs.
Ryan likes to think he can figure out anybody within five minutes of meeting them. "Guaranteed!" It will be worth seeing if Ryan can be figured out so quickly or whether it will require a full season to do it.
