Military Brat: Moving around the World

For the past seventeen years of my life minus a few months, I have lived in the United States. I grew up skiing and bicycling in Grand Rapids, Michigan, until my family decided to move all the way out west to Flagstaff, Arizona. Many eleven-year-olds might become stubborn and defensive in response to such a massive, life-changing move, but I remember embracing it because I was with my family, and I was ready to face any obstacle that unveiled itself to me because I knew that my late comedic father, my worrisome mother, and my troublesome brother would be right by my side. As we made the two-day drive from Michigan to Arizona in our SUV together, we watched the numbers on the odometer crawl up more and more until there were 2,000 more miles on the car than there were when we started, and we

Transitions are never an easy thing to conquer. It is often hard and stressful to cope with changes to one’s surrounding, but in the cases in which one manages to conquer this obstacle, elevation of knowledge and experience are great results gained from this achievement. I originally came from Africa and recently moved to the United States to join my mother and my step father. This great change in the things I had become accustomed to in my daily life was not easy, furthermore taking into account the fact that I had never experienced a transition so little as shifting from one residence to another.

When I was four, my father was deployed to Afghanistan. In Virginia, he left my mother, my elder brother, myself, and my newborn brother. I still remember the day he came home, running to him in the airport along my elder brother, and clinging to my father for dear life. I didn’t understand why he had left; I spent many years in ignorance to the 9/11 attacks, or the reason for why my father was away. It was very frightening, because when your parent is taken away to a country that you can’t even pronounce the name of, and fighting a group so horrible that no one was willing to tell a four year old girl who they were, you become depressed and angry. One day, many years later, I was driving with my father in his small, broken, Volkswagen Beetle,

I grew up in a military family and experienced world turmoil, 9-11, and the War on Terrorism from that perspective. My father retired from the Navy in 2011, and we have lived in Mankato, KS since.

Growing up moving between New Jersey and Puerto Rico has exposed me to diverse beliefs, languages, and history. When I was young my parents separated and as a result my mother relocated us to New Jersey. Thus, I learned English and interacted with many people from various backgrounds. In New Jersey, I was a girl scout for several years, and my experience in girl scouts has taught me valuable teamwork and leadership skills. Constantly switching between two places has made me a very open minded and curious person. It’s also given me an opportunity to develop my social and communication skills.

Have you ever thought to yourself “today could be the day I lose everything and everyone I care about?” As a military child I was use to moving but never did I think I would move to a whole new country. Moving to Japan was exciting, yet scary at the same time. I was excited to learn a new culture and language, but scared I wouldn’t fit in. Living on a military base I was surrounded by other military children and of course many Americans. I had an amazing first 2 years in Japan but all of that suddenly changed.

I was born in Tyler, TX. My family and I lived in several towns throughout East Texas as I was growing up. My father worked for the Cotton Belt Railroad employed as a welder. My mother held several types of jobs. She worked as a cook, nursery worker and several other occupations. The first place I remember living was in Greenville. Greenville was followed quickly by Lindale, Chapel Hill, Mt. Vernon, Commerce, Mesquite, Marshall and finally back to Lindale. Lindale was my favorite place and the place we settled for my high school years. I thought being there for 5 consecutive years was the best thing that had ever happened to me. Most kids couldn’t wait to graduate and get out of the small town of Lindale, but I was having the time of my life. I was soon to learn that living in Lindale was not the best thing that would ever happen to me. In 1986 my wife, Julie, moved to Lindale. I remember the first time I saw her. I thought, there is the girl I am going to marry. I graduated from Lindale High School in 1989. Following high school, Julie and got married and started our family. Our first child was born soon after. I attended Tyler Junior College and worked at Brookshires warehouse. When I began college I intended to pursue a degree in computer science. I later changed my degree plan to focus on a criminal justice degree. Working full time and attending college, along with a degree change, extended my time in junior college. I graduated from Tyler Junior

My family sold everything we had and started the move to Jordan, but we were stopped at the Jordan-Iraq border. The soldiers at the border proceeded to ask me and my family many questions, like “Why do you want to live in Jordan?” My mom told the men we were to be travelling to the United States eventually. But those soldiers, with hate in their heart, took one look at the women of my family and saw them wearing Hijab. Those men hated Muslims and denied us entry to Jordan. Defeated, we all travelled back towards Iraq and had to take residence with our cousin because we had nothing. Just like when I lost my uncles and friends, I realized that life kept going; my siblings and I went back to school in Iraq. Four months later, good news at last! It was a new year, 2007, and we were going to Syria. I knew this time would be different. We arrived in Syria not long after hearing about it and found ourselves lost in a new world, with no one to come to our aide. We had only one friend there, who thankfully, helped us navigate our way through this new place. We only stayed in Syria for as long as it took to get the rest of the papers in order so we could make the final trip to America. That being only eight months, I didn’t return to school. I missed my family that I had to leave behind in Iraq, but I knew better

Living in Mississippi for the longest out of any other place felt comforting, and it was odd to be leaving. Moving because of the military was quite annoying at times, my dad had just completed 15 years and had been given sets of orders a couple times before California but they had fallen through. We had the chance to be stationed in places such as Italy, Hawaii, or Japan, which sounded much more fun and exciting to me, however they had fallen through because of family issues. I did not enjoy the adventures of moving and didn’t realize the valuable lessons and experience it would give us. Admiring my parents for always seeming so adventurous and believing they could do anything, nothing affected them for a prolonged period of time, they would always make the best out of everything that occurred. Realizing how much they had to endure from the military made me wish that I could exert the same behavior, but I didn’t know how they had such a positive attitude about the military life., how they stayed so

Hello everyone. I was born and raised in Puerto Rico. In 1987, my dad was working for IBM and was given an opportunity to move to United States. After a few months of debating and researching, my parents chose Knoxville as our new home. Four years later, I graduated from high school and enlisted in the Marine Corps. During my four years of service, I traveled from one side of the world to the other and saw and did things many people can’t even imagine. Tough as the work was at times, I wouldn’t trade that time for anything as it shaped my view of the world and, along with my family, became part of the foundation on which I built my life.

So, I’ve had the opportunity to live all over the world: the United States, Europe and Asia. Throughout my childhood, I engaged with and learned from

I’m only a sixteen year old junior in a small high school 45 minutes away from the capital of Iowa. Therefore, I have never expected much out of myself, and neither has anyone else that knows me. I have always inferred that I would settle down close to my hometown, in order to be able to take care of my widowed, handicapped mother, but I realized that day that I do not want to be someone who just sits around and waits for life to happen.The sermon made me realize that my heart isn’t here, and I have to be able to leave home in order to be able to find my way back. Maybe the rainy coastline of Seattle will offer what I’m missing, or the bustling streets of New York. I believe that in order to grow as an individual, we as humans have to learn how to leave home in order to find our way

The year I was born, my parents left the educational woes of Buffalo City Schools and fled to the rolling hills and small town life in our tiny village of East Aurora, New York. The only house I have any recollection of is situated on a few acres of forest with a trickling stream meandering its way around the property. This setting was my first classroom and nature was my first teacher.

Growing up as a military dependent has afforded me the opportunity to interact with people from different racial, socioeconomic, and religious backgrounds. Additionally, living in five different states, six cities, and attending seven schools has enlightened me as to how specific regional differences directly influence a person’s perspective on social, political, gender, and race issues. Moreover, I was raised in racially and culturally diverse family. I am half African-American and half Caucasian.

Settling in new country isn’t always easy. A day I arrived in Vermont seemed to be a new beginning for my life. I came to Vermont on December 09th, 2008. I was about 14 years old, and I had no idea what I was thinking of. I was so confused, and I didn’t speak English at all. I thought I was lost because I saw so many diverse people I’ve never seen in my life. I felt uncomfortable to be here because I didn’t understand what it was going on this state. I thought that I was in wrong place because it wasn’t easy for me to start living in Vermont.