Personal Narrative: My Life As A Military Child

Being a military child, I’ve made a few big moves during very important stages in my life. Before elementary school started, I moved away from all of family in South River, New Jersey to live in Augusta, Georgia. At the beginning of 6th grade, I made the biggest move of my life to Vicenza, Italy. Three years later, during my first few months as a freshman in high school, I moved right back to Augusta. During these moves, I’ve always spent a few months feeling out-of-place, shutting into myself and making it incredibly difficult to approach other people, and in turn, difficult for others to approach me. I would spend a few weeks alone, or end up spending time with people I didn’t really click with. However, adaptation quickly became my best friend. I learned to adapt in
I went from being in an urban setting to waking up to beautiful, snow-capped mountains outside of my window every morning. In order to make friends, I adapted, I forced myself out of my shell. I became an active student, going to the youth center almost every day and joining our softball team. When new kids came around, I quickly became friends with them and invited them to hang out with me when they felt up to it. It was hard of course, but my three years there earned me five lifelong friends that I still talk to and visit to this very day. Then, there was the start of freshman year and the second biggest move of my life, my move back to Augusta, Georgia. Though I knew other students there, it was still hard for me to actually speak to them. They now had their groups of friends, and I didn’t want to end up the awkward kid they knew from elementary school. Once again, it took me a while to make any friends at all. I ended up spending a few lonely lunches in the library, but, I did have my phone to fall back on. In the end, I adapted. I found a group of friends, and opened up, expressed myself, and have been friends with those girls, plus a few others, ever