Counselor's Corner

April is the Month of the Military Child. This awareness month was established to underscore the important role children play in the Armed Forces community.  This is an essay written by one of our military students which was shared at our breakfast for military students.

Ohayōgozaimasu watashiwa serena des! That means good morning my name is Serena in Japanese. My dad is in the United States Marine Corps making me a Military Brat, and I’m proud to say that. Sadly my dad wasn’t able to make it today because he is in California, but that’s just one of the sacrifices Military kids have to make, our parents can’t always be there for school events like these.

One of the hardest questions I get asked is “Where am I from?” I don’t have an exact answer to that because I’m not really from anywhere. Do they mean where I was born, where my parents are from, or where I lived the longest? My home is really no where, but I have friends everywhere. I was born in 29 Palms, California, moved to Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, then moved to Okinawa, Japan, and am here now. I lived in California for three  years, Oklahoma for three, Okinawa for six, and have been here for a year and a half. While living in Japan I was able to visit Tokyo, the Tokashiki islands, and climb Mt. Fuji. On the way back from Mainland Japan I even flew on a military cargo plane.

One of the best parts about our military life is moving and getting the opportunity to make friends around the world, but with saying hello to new friends comes saying goodbye. When you say goodbye to your friends it makes it hard to stay connected with them especially when it comes to different time zones. Since I move around a lot it makes it hard to relate to people who have grown up in one place their whole life. Most kids stay friends with the same people and live near their families their whole life. When it comes to military families we meet many new people and hardly see our family.

Living overseas I got to experience some pretty interesting places and cultures. In Okinawa, I experienced Japanese culture by learning to speak some of the language, eating their amazing food, participating in Japanese ceremonies, and making Japanese crafts like origami.

Of all the places I’ve lived, SC is the first place where we haven’t lived on a military base. I’m used to walking to the PX and shoppette with my friends and just hang out there. Instead of hanging out at malls and shopping centers my friends and I would just walk to the shoppette whenever and hang out while we slurp our slushies and F’reals. Living on base there’s not much to do for parties so there were so many bowling parties. The grocery store also is and forever will be the known as commissary.

On my journey as a Military Brat I have laughed and cried, seen the world, and have met so many amazing people. I didn’t choose this life, but I have no regrets. I am a proud Military Brat.

by Serena M.