Month of the Military Child Essay: Not the normal life

By Evelyn Dupont
Patch Middle School, 8th Grade 

What does it mean to be a military-connected child?

When you look at me, you see a young girl. You assume I’m a normal child with normal parents and and normal life. Military life like mine is everything but normal. I have to deal with many challenges every day. I have to move, make new friends, say goodbye to parents, and leave a life behind. However, without the military I wouldn’t be me.

I have lived all around the world. Every time I move, I know I won’t be there for long. I know I will make and lose friends. I know I can’t get attached to things because it will just make it harder to leave. However, I’m glad I’m able to move. I have made friends all around the world and I get to see the whole world. I have even moved to different countries. Moving has given me the opportunity to experience things not a lot of kids have.

I can’t imagine me not as a military kid. Military is part of me and that can’t be taken away. If I wasn’t a military kid, I wouldn’t be the “me” who I love today.

So you can see what it means to be a military child. You have to deal with a lot of hardships but in the end, it’s all worth it. Military has made me who I am and I am forever thankful. That’s why I love the military.

Editor’s note: Essays and drawings from students across the Stuttgart military community are submitted to the School Liaison Office each March and published throughout the month of April on The Citizen, at the Panzer Main Exchange and read aloud on AFN Stuttgart radio to celebrate our military children in Stuttgart.