Nontraditional tells the story of Erika Byrd, a 26-year old female combat veteran who is now a freshman in college. Erika contends with freshman classes, noisy neighbors, well-meaning classmates, and demanding professors. She struggles with this transition, and the temptation to return to the structure of the military is strong. Will she have the courage to confront this kind of transformation and plunge headlong into a new life? Will she mistake it for some kind of idealistic nonsense? Will real change, however incremental, just seem too hard for her?