Personal Narrative Essay : The Benefits Of Being A Military Child

The need to be able to adapt is necessary for every military child since conditions will not always be perfect. Sometimes orders are cut short and a family may have to move before they expected. Two of the most influential years in shaping my background were the two years I spent living in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba where adaptability was of the utmost importance. For example, since everything was shipped to the base on on a barge and sometimes the barge was delayed, the local store would often be out of many products. If one needed something that was out of stock, he or she was simply out of luck and had to make due with what there was. Furthermore, the small student population made for small class sizes sizes and limited resources but despite this we attended school everyday and made the most of what we had. Despite of all these challenges, I thoroughly enjoyed my time there and was adaptable in order to adjust to all the changes from the United

I went pre-med before getting deployed and as an intern I've seen a lot of horrible things. But when it's your friend... Someone you serve with... It stays with you forever.

I have been a military child for my entire life. I’ve lived in five states on the East Coast, across the Atlantic in England, in the desert of Southern California, and finally, I’m home in Vermont. Moving roughly every two years has been difficult; but, despite this challenge, my “military child” experience has given me many positive advantages. I’ve been exposed to many different cultures, places, and people, and this has broadened my worldview and given me the tools I need to be a successful college student.

My life before enlisting into the military I was very different. I was a gregarious person, always wanting to go out and meeting new people. My childhood, and school memories were those of happy moments. I had many friends, went and had sleep overs, went on school trips, had fun at amusement parks,

It was the year 2008, I had just graduated from St. Michael’s School located in Los Angeles, CA. This year was quite exhilarating for me also scary because I was going to attend an all-girls high school. Los Angeles was my birth place also a place where I called home. One day, I came home to hearing my parents talking about moving to Mississippi. I remained devastated, not only we were moving to the south, I’m moving away from childhood friends. I was worried I wouldn’t see them again and I was worried that I wouldn’t be able to make new friends in Mississippi.

I did not want to make new friends, considering the position all of us are in. We were put into this position to get one main job done. However, the inevitable happened, and I became close to some of my fellow soldiers. We talked about a lot of topics, including our interests and our past. It almost seemed normal, as if we were not in the middle of a war, where one of us could die at any instance. Talking to my friends about anything but war takes me back to a time when I was a child, sitting next to my friends in a lunch room,

mother was a commanding officer which made me and my siblings labeled “military brat” The

I grew up in a military family, but I would not consider myself to be a military brat. My father went to the naval academy and started his naval career in Washington D.C. My family then moved from Washington D.C., to Washington, to Missouri. With every move came a new school, and new friends. Once settled in Missouri, my father began going on more navy trips where he would go away for a few weeks. The older My brother and I got, the more the family came along with my father. We would stay at military base inns and hotels. We traveled everywhere form San Diego, Florida, to Hawaii. During these trips, I became comfortable with staying away from home, while simultaneously growing closer to my family. I grew up during those road trips because

One thing that all military installations offer to families is a mock deployment line. A mock deployment line is a wonderful thing for a child to experience. During a mock deployment line, the child will go through all of the steps their parent does when preparing to deploy. It cannot be stressed enough to parents the importance of informing their children’s caregivers and teachers that a parent will be deploying. Doing so is a vital step in helping the child cope with the upcoming separation. The child’s teacher, once informed of an upcoming deployment will help the child cope by incorporating activities such as reading books where a family member is taking a long trip, or talking with all the children about how they feel and why they feel the way they do into their lesson plans. Parents need to make sure they do not put off telling children of the deployment, letting their children know about the deployment as soon as possible will provide them the opportunity to become involved in preparing for the separation. Children will want to have many conversations with their parents about the deployment; parents need to make sure that they keep the discussions honest, straightforward, and factual (Clash, 2008).

My experience with military based relocation has been very minimal. My family moved from Cherry Point down to Beaufort, SC and after three years we moved back to Cherry Point. While living in South Carolina I made lots of new friends, but I did miss many of my old friends. At first, it was uncomfortable to talk with new people, but something that was definitely helpful was that there were kids who have gone through the same experiences like me. Once I found people who have gone through what I was feeling- the initial shyness, the awkward first weeks, and the desire to gain a sense of normal again- it made the initial weeks much easier to deal with. By joining this group I was able to get through the initial weeks and was able to gain a

During my sixth grade year, my brother Brian was deployed to Iraq for the first time. From the youngest sibling’s point of view, Brian not being around was constantly shocking

Deployment in the Army happens to about everyone. It’s a hard truth, but it happens. The soldiers are sent off to wherever they are needed, including Afghanistan and Iraq, and they put themselves in harm's way to protect our freedom. My dad served in the Army for a few years, and he was in this position for a year while my family was back home living in Germany. Waiting became the custom for us; to hear from him, talk to him, and eventually see him again when he came home.

I have spent my entire life as a military child. When you move every three years, and take at least a year to begin making friends, you tend to spend a lot of time alone. By the time I finally had a few good friends, it would be time to move again. Each move brought a new home, new neighborhood, new school, new church, new scout troop, and more old friends left behind. By the time I finished the fifth grade, I had been through three elementary schools and

Moving from place to place every two years as a military dependant is undeniably hard. It seems as though whenever you get settled enough to be comfortable in a school that you have to prepare restart the process of trying to be brave enough to talk to new people, make new friends, and get involved at another new school. Throughout my experiences I have pushed myself to go outside my comfort zone at each new school, at one I ran for student council and won, at two others I was involved in their leadership programs, and at my current school I decided to join the dance team. An experience I had never had. I took a huge risk and put myself out there even though I had never danced before and didn’t know the first thing about it, however I was

Welcome to the wearying yet rewarding life of being a military brat. I’d always enjoy getting settled down into a new house and neighborhood, meeting a couple great friends here and there, maybe even receiving the privilege to paint my room that sunny orange color that I’ve always wanted… and then packing up and leaving once four years were up. Not many can claim that they've moved and transferred between four elementary schools, three middle schools, and three high schools in their lifetime. It was difficult to adjust to new environments and different people while all at the same time, being depressed from leaving those who have allowed me to let down my walls and be myself, which I so desperately tried to hide away due to the trepidation of experiencing