For my first project I chose to
write about the struggles of being in a military family and how it impacted me
throughout middle school and high school. I chose to write about this topic
because it’s something that took a huge toll on my life. It’s what shaped me
into the person that I am. I wanted to share my story because I wanted others
to understand how different life may be for others who don’t always get to
finish where they start.
A Military Life
Everyone struggles throughout middle
school and high school. We leave our single classroom, nap filled lives, and we
walk into what may seem like a whole new world. We walk down longer halls, we
deal with more drama, more assignments, a lack of sleep and, just a tad bit
more chaos. We are officially teenagers, and we start what people call the
“best years of our lives”. For some, that may be exactly what it turns out to
be. But for me it was a whole different story.
Most people will never understand what
growing up in a military home is like. They may never get to experience living
in more than one house, or more than one state. A lot of people don’t know the
feeling of being yanked from one school to another. Introducing yourself to new
people, then trying to keep them as far away as possible, because you knew the
drill. With every hello, came another goodbye.
I can’t remember the sandy beaches of
California. Even though, according to my birth certificate, that’s where I come
from. I was only three years old when we left, I couldn’t tell you what street
I lived on or what my house looked like. I would call California the beginning
of a long journey. Clayton, Oklahoma was our next stop. A town so small it
could fit in your back yard. I despised the south. I was a city girl trapped in
a town filled with nothing but southern accents and fried food. It wouldn’t
last long though, I knew our next move was coming soon. And the drive to
Virginia was beautiful, long, but beautiful. My whole life felt like one big road
trip. Then came Oregon and Washington. I had never seen so much rain in my
entire life. Driving anywhere meant driving towards the mountains, what a sight
to see right? I was content, I was happy. I was told this was where we would
retire. That’s what they always said, though. It was never actually true. In
fact, I can remember the exact night my step father called me and my siblings
into his bedroom, three years later. I knew that whatever he had to tell us,
was going to upset me. I could tell by the look on his face. I didn’t want to
know, I didn’t want him to tell me that we had to leave, I had finally felt
like I had a home. Then he said it, I remember his words exactly, “We’re moving
back to Virginia”. I ran to my room, I slammed my door, and I cried. I didn’t
want to leave. I didn’t want to start over again, but I didn’t have a choice.
In a couple months I’d be back on the road to Virginia, attending a new school,
in a new home, surrounded by people that I didn’t know. It felt like my whole
world was constantly crumbling around me. However, all my problems were just
beginning, and I had no idea the new challenges I would face.
It was the first day of my sophomore
year of high school, and I was already being called down to the guidance
counselor’s office to discuss problems with my new schedule. “You aren’t yet
able to take sophomore English, or History”, she said to me. I was being forced
to retake freshman classes due to my credits not being able to transfer. I had
never felt so angry, at the school, at my parents, at the world. It didn’t feel
fair, it never felt fair. But it was my life, I was used to the complications.
I remember walking to my History class that day, and sitting next to a girl
with beautiful, long, brown hair. Her name was Bailey, and as it turned out,
she was a sophomore too. She had also come from a military family, and
coincidently we were both placed in the same freshman course for the same exact
reason. Suddenly, I didn’t feel so alone. I felt like I was understood for the
first time in my life. For a split second, my life didn’t seem all that bad. As
the weeks went on, I began to realize how hard the year was going to be for me.
I was behind in every one of my classes. They were learning things that I had
never been taught. I knew I was going to have to go the extra mile just to
pass. That is exactly what I did. I’m not going to lie, high school was
challenging, and at times I wanted to give up. I just wanted to feel like a
normal high school kid, but this was my normal.
Through all the struggles, all the
loss, the adventures, the moves, the friends, the different schools, I had
learned how to adapt to anything. I had seen more than most people will see in
a lifetime, in just a matter of years. I had the opportunity to meet people from
all different backgrounds, military and non-military. The Army built me into
the person that I am. I am stronger and more disciplined, I’m more open minded
and optimistic. I have more respect for those who serve, and for their
families. I have a greater sense of responsibility. I am a lot more mature and
understanding than most young women. I am forever grateful for the life I was
given, no matter how difficult. I am the person I am today, due to everything I
went through. I take pride in who I have become. Today, I am a young college
student, working a full time job, living in my own apartment, enjoying a life
that I’ve built for myself. In just a matter of weeks, my family will start
their next journey to North Carolina, and leave me behind for the first time in
my life. Their adventures will continue, but the life that I've started has
just begun.
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