2024/Marina-

Usually when you think about military children, you think about the constant moving around from place to place. You think about the physical and emotional sacrifices families make to support their military members, but what about the small number of kids who don’t move often? I am one of those kids. I have only moved once as a military child. I moved from Shaw AFB in South Carolina to Kadena AB in 2013. I was only seven at the time. Not only was it my first time moving, but it was to a foreign country about 7,872 miles away. There were a lot of mixed emotions that filled my head. It is a special opportunity to see the world and live in a foreign country like Okinawa, Japan. While this opportunity was exciting, it was also extremely terrifying because I had to leave the one place I knew my whole life. Being stationed overseas meant leaving my extended family and friends in the states. This sacrifice is what almost all military kids go through. That’s what makes this community a strong and unique one. Every experience is similar but also distinct.

I have been the new kid who has moved in on the recent PCS season, so I know what it is like preparing to come into a new school and move into a new neighborhood. However, being in Okinawa for 11 years I’ve also watched many friends leave. I have been fortunate enough to have only moved once, but I believe it is just as hard to stay in one place like I have for so long while watching others leave.

There are many advantages and disadvantages to being in one place. For example, some advantages are I know the island very well, I am exposed to a diverse community, my house is rooted as a comfortable support system, I have a couple of friends who have been here for as long as I have, and I get to help and make new friends who move here. On the other hand, many friends move from the cycle of PCS season. No school year is the same, and friends groups change because of the constant shifting of kids. It is sad to become close with people and have to say goodbye by the next year. Instead of feeling like you are moving on and leaving people behind you begin to feel like you’re the one being left behind. Despite all the challenges I have faced, I wouldn’t want to change a thing because it has molded me into the individual I am proudly today.