Naomi J...
Kadena High School
As I stood in the garage directing movers left and right, signing for boxes, and sweating in the Okinawa humidity, overwhelming waves washed over me. As the last pieces were rushed out, I looked around and crumbled. “What’s wrong?” My little brother asked as he looked at my mom.
“She's seeing her entire life in boxes,” She replied sympathetically as she reached for me.
Being a military kid, or a Marine brat, shaped me in so many ways over the course of 18 years. Living in North Carolina, California, Virginia, Louisiana, and Okinawa gave me so many opportunities that I would have never imagined myself having without the lifestyle that came with being a Marine child.
The first quality that arose from my experiences was high independence. Starting at a very young age I began to work for what I wanted on my own and became efficient in figuring solutions in situations presented to me. While this may sound typical for many driven adolescents, in my situation this was heavily influenced by those around me in the military. Seeing my dad work for promotions and higher education tirelessly pushed me. Additionally, having not only my dad, but also my mom involved in military positions to help Marine Corps Community Services, I also felt the need to start taking jobs at the age of 14 working to provide services to other military families and gain valuable training available for these positions able to be taken further than just one job.
Secondly, exposure was a key component in my life. Living overseas in Okinawa, I got to experience many different cultures, people, and places. Traveling around Asia, I received the opportunities to practice new languages, try new foods, and see new things. As a result, openness to the unknown became a second nature to me. When you’re open to new things, you tend to see similarities and repetitive patterns found through exposure. Experiencing the lives of others without judgment with willingness to learn and enrich in exposure gave me qualities I don't believe I would have ever fully gained without this experience.
The most basic quality, but arguably the most important, that arose due to my military lifestyle was kindness. Knowing the struggles that friends and families face due to moves, changes, and crises, made me realize how much a little kindness can go a long way when you have no idea what someone is going through. Luckily being a Marine brat always centered me in groups where I could empathize with others with similar struggles, but being aware of what goes on in a person's life highlighted how incorporating kindness is necessary not only for the people you see struggling, but for yourself to remember how your beginnings shaped you.
Individual lifestyle experiences have a way to shape its impact on the person experiencing its effects. In mine, being a military child emphasized independence, exposure, and kindness above all else. Throughout the years of constantly moving and facing new challenges presented I became a stronger, more determined, and well rounded person. The lifestyle in being around the military gave me qualities that I, without a doubt, believe would not be the same away from these experiences.
I looked back to my mom and accepted her embrace. Through the emotions I was attempting to work out in that new garage I finally got a reply back to her,
“It's a lot, but we've done it before, I’m ready.”