2023/Emilee -

Throughout the past almost 17 years, I have moved six times, attended eight schools, and lived in three different countries. The most important thing I have learned, something im-portant for people of all walks of life, is that life is what you make of it.

There has been time, and time again, where I have been faced with an adversity that most children never have to deal with. Whether that meant moving to a different state or even country, each time, it was the same. Leaving behind the life I had known for the past three years. The place I had just begun to call home. Oftentimes, even without my dad, who has been gone more times than I can count on one hand.

Nevertheless, in each place I persevered. I made new friends, I made a new home. I met people from all different backgrounds, and each one taught me something new. They all helped me to gain a new perspective for the way that I view the world.

One thing moving has taught me is that you have the power to change your life. When you wake up in the morning, you can choose to reinvent yourself. You can take the long way home, getting to explore places you never thought existed. You don’t have to move across the world to do this, although that sure is one way to do it. You control your state of mind and your way of thinking. When you move, you can definitely make your next three years miserable. Or, you can make the most of your time there and truly stop and enjoy it.

I encourage you to think about all of the things you have gotten to do and gotten to see throughout your years as a military child. The greatest gift the military has given me is being able to appreciate where I am and the journey to where I’m going.