2024/Isabela-

Constantly moving or watching people move from you isn't easy, but there's also beauty to it. I can travel the world and see and meet unique people. I don't have to experience life through a book; I can live it. There is a lot of anger that comes with being a military child but it also means I can travel to different places, experience different cultures, and tell better stories.

Living in Okinawa means I can travel to mainland with much ease and little worry. Traveling is expensive, but it's even worse when you live 16 hours from the destination. Seeing sites some only see in movies is a privilege I don't take for granted. The beauty of Japanese architecture should not be underestimated. It's truly breathtaking. I've seen a lot of historical sites and I only live in Japan. Those who live in Europe are seeing even more. Traveling with my family builds bonds and unique experiences.

Traveling means I also get to experience and appreciate different cultures. I've learned a lot about the different arts in Japan. Being here allowed me to unlock the true beauty of tea making, I used to be just a regular old tea drinker, but now, I'm a tea-drinking connoisseur. I can live the same life every day, never knowing the beauty of tea, and never caring to know what more the world has to offer. Or, I can try to experience as much as possible, so that when I'm 40 I won't feel like I missed out on life. I can't imagine how my life would've been if I didn’t appreciate tea to its finest point, and I can thank it to Japanese culture.

One of my coolest moments with my dad is when he talks about his adventures as a kid or teen. I also want to take part in that. Boring people have to lie to their kids, but I won't. When I say I fed deers that bowed to me in thanks, it won't be a lie. I imagine that one day my future kids will find a photobook from when I was younger and see all these exotic sites, they will be so shocked. I can tell them these amazing stories of my childhood, and it will all be real.

I often feel left out when I realize I don't have childhood friends, and that I will never have a bond with my cousins that most people have. But I don't want to live in constant agony, that is so wasteful. If I'm going to have to constantly move, I'm going to do everything I can to make the most of it. The truth of it is, that the military has brought me a lot of things, like seeing different countries, experiencing different cultures, and giving me good writing material.