Michael Uphoff did two tours in Iraq (operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom) with the Marine Corps before coming home in 2005. “I enrolled in the GI Bill and went to college in 2007. While in college, this all happened. I remember my father freaking out,” Uphoff says. His father’s home valued plunged from $900,000 to $400,000. “It’s everything he owned.” But the financial hardship strengthened Uphoff’s relationship with his father. He says, “[We] definitely started to have more adult conversations. He became more of a mentor, he started to respect my opinions more and we became best friends.” As a freelance designer, Uphoff has to hustle to just find work. “Trying to keep putting money aside for investments is challenging. Right now I have a VA home loan, and I can’t purchase a house in Los Angeles. It’s impossible,” he explains. Eventually, he says, housing in the U.S. will become an issue again. “It’s, like, here in Los Angeles, we keep waiting for the next big earthquake, like get ready for the next big financial crisis, it’s just going to happen.” #HowWeChanged Photos by Bear Guerra @bearguerra