2024/Alana-

Being a military child is an eye-opening lifestyle, as you are more aware and exposed to different cultures, religions, people, etc. Within this exposure, an acknowledgment of cultural barriers and a lack of belonging is natural. We, the military family, are obligated to constantly adapt to different environments and the need to fit in is essential to survive socially. It’s a larger world that we’re exposed to compared to those who have the opportunity to settle in one area for the majority of their lives. Yet, even when returning to our home country, the search for self-belonging continues to linger.

Despite returning to the country that our families continue to sacrifice and serve, home-like connection is absent. As for many of us, even with being inside American schools, and being taught American values, and allegiances, we have spent more of our lives outside of the USA than within. From a personal perspective, I spent the majority of my childhood in Japan for a total of 7 years before having to move to Panama City, Florida. Having grown up in DODEA school I assumed that America wouldn’t be any different and expected to feel less foreign. It was to my realization that it was quite the opposite, as I felt more alienated despite literally being American.

Newly-made peers treated me as though I spoke a different language, such as when trying to connect with different subjects. It resulted in only disappointment for they did not understand as much as someone would back in Japan or the military alone. Furthermore, it was more prominent how close-minded specific individuals were, as the exposure to the outside world caused me to perceive society differently. I carried that outlook along with me, yet when sharing it others incompetently weren’t interested or didn’t understand. People who did understand were those who experienced the outside world and were other military children.

My family was then tasked to move back to Japan, where I was surprisingly happy doing so, as I was able to be around those who understood our differences and struggles. Amongst my fellow military child colleagues , we bonded over the mutual awareness of not fitting in.It was an apprehension that the belonging that I had longed for was within that non-belonging that I had been feeling all along.