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Editor’s note: This article was written as a contest submission to the Military Child Education Coalition. The subject was ”The Art of Being a Military Child.”
There is no white picket fence in my life, no where that is really home sweet home. Home for me has always been where the military sends us.
Being a military child I have had the chance to have one of life’s greatest adventures – seeing the world, meeting hundreds of different people, seeing different types of culture, and hearing different languages as I have grown up to the young woman I am today.
Spending most of my life over in European countries has made me the person I am today. I have been able to see the world. It’s not just what I dream about doing someday when I make it in this crazy world. The Eiffel Tower, the Leaning Tower of Pisa, the Berlin Wall and the Colosseum – these are all a part of me. I never will forget the memories I made while I visited these different countries; I felt accepted as part of their little world.
Yes, I love my life the way it is, but it’s not always fun and game. I’ve been a world traveler and seen what many of the residents of our country will only see in their history books. I have been up close and personal, surrounded by people and culture from many different countries.
But what I haven’t seen is my extend family. I don’t get the pleasure of being the favorite cousin that plays hide and seek with the other kids in the yard. Being a military child, you get separated and feel like a stranger in most cases.
It’s my life, though and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Yes, it has its down falls, but everything in life does.
You have to find the good and see the things that being a military kid helps you do in your life now and later on. Though it’s hard packing up your things, moving around, meeting new people and leaving others behind, you have to adjust to the situations you’re faced with whether you like it or not.
Yes, it is a lot of work and yes, it can get hard at times, but it is an amazing life to have. You never know what’s going to be on the next page of your life. You’ve seen the world. How many other Americans can say they are world travelers? Not many. That’s why, when you say, “I live in Germany” the first thing people assume is, “Oh! Are you German?”
Yes, I live in Germany. No, I’m not German. I’m just living the life of a military child.
