Aidan grew up in north Idaho, and during his four years in the Marine Corps, including deployments to Australia and Okinawa, he began re-discovering the classical western tradition, and found he had a deep enjoyment and appreciation for its works. Upon leaving the military, he received his bachelor’s degree at New Saint Andrews College in Moscow, Idaho, where he encountered writers such as Aristotle, Augustine, Aquinas, John Calvin, Thomas Hobbes, and others. Wanting to pursue further study on the great thinkers of the Western tradition, he enrolled at Hillsdale to pursue a Master’s degree.