Military Kid, By Alyssa Weeks, Age 11

I was born into a family with two military parents. My mother is a gunnery sergeant and my father is a first sergeant. When people see my parents in their uniforms, you can tell that they think to themselves, "That person is doing their part for this country." But, when I see my parents in uniform it scares me because it reminds me that deployment is still a threat. The last time my dad got deployed was his second time to Iraq. I know it sounds like a little bit of time, but when it happens to you it seems like forever. We dropped him off and it seemed very dry. It was on a base next to a barracks. There was a bus parked on the grass, and families with small children. I felt kind of bad for them. I was older and thought I knew how to handle it. My older sister wore dark glasses over her eyes so my dad couldn't see her emotions, but unlike her, I did not hide it. I would miss my dad. But the biggest thing I would miss would be having the entire family eating dinner together laughing and telling each other stories about what happened that day.

When you are a military kid, you have certain responsibilities to help the parent that is not deployed. One is to try not to cry when you talk to the parent that is deployed. You have to remember to be strong because when you're sad, the deployed parent becomes sad. Take care of all your siblings even though sometimes they aren't the nicest people. One very important one; Listen to your parent. If he or she tells you to do something, you do it. Just try not to get them mad or sad. They are already stressed with things like paying bills on their own or being both mother and father. The days are quiet when a parent is deployed.

Deployments are hard so it is always nice to have someone to talk to. Now everyone knows that there is a very slim chance of a kid talking to the parents about the pain. Usually the child finds a really trustworthy friend and talks to them about the situation. No one wants their friends to see them crying, because most kids think that crying shows weakness. So it is really hard to find a friend to talk to. Every single child talks about this. It is just like a way of life growing up in a military family. When a parent is deployed, some kids hide their emotions by finding a hobby and working on it a lot. Thinking about something else helps with the pain.

When a parent gets orders, it may seem like it is the end of the world, but a good theory is to learn more about the place you are going (like the schools and neighborhoods). It helps get you excited about the move. Talk about decorating your room, because that is what got me excited. Learn about the weather and at least one exciting thing about the new place, like if the weather is sunny and hot, or the beach activities.

When you get to your new place, you will probably have to stay in a hotel for a little bit. When my family was in a hotel, we stopped by the house to check it out. When I saw my new room, I just thought about where everything was going to go. When we went to the store to buy cleaning supplies, toothpaste and food, it helped to pick out some of my favorite things. I loved throwing things in the basket for my room and then getting home and setting everything up.

I was born on Okinawa and have been living overseas for two years now. We have settled in. We all have friends and are happy with our lives. Living overseas is different from living in the States. For example, some places don't have a Walmart, which is terribly sad considering that every single human being gets their stuff from Walmart. Living overseas does have its advantages like you can explore and see what is near your new home.

Even though living in a military family can be hard, you still have a family that loves you. Your family is special, because of what you all do for the United States. And even when it can be sad or challenging, we should enjoy the opportunities to do and see new things because it will not last forever.

Military Kids Speak, By Lauriliz Mulero, Age 13

I, as a military child, have experienced and suffered from my dad's deployments three times. Experiencing this is not easy because no one wants a father to be away. Feelings that I did not think I had just came out of me and I realized that I missed him. The feeling most likely to be found in a military family is sadness. Sadness is not a good feeling because it could lead to depression. I want people to listen to what I have to say and realize what military children go through.

Let me start talking about feelings. People have a lot of feelings. For example, they can feel love, anger, happiness, anxiety, and depression. Military families have all these feelings. In my family, sadness and anxiety covers us like a blanket. Let me talk about sadness. Of course, I could get fat for many reasons, but when my father is leaving for a year, I deal with something else. I need to enjoy that last day with my dad. When my dad is deployed, I feel like I need to prepare myself to take on new responsibilities and become mature and have more courage. But I also hope that his assignment for a year would go by as fast as the wind blows and he would be home.

Right now, anxiety is the most ominous feeling that my family has. I can get anxious for many reasons, like waiting for something special, like birthdays, and other things. But in the case of my mom and me, it is different because we are also anxious and waiting for my father to come back home to be with us. In the past, I have experienced that the day before my dad ended his assignment. A way that I got my head away from thinking about this situation was by reading a book or listening to music. I tried to entertain myself to distract my mind.

One change that exists at our home while my father is deployed has to do with family communication. Unfortunately, this is a situation I'm dealing with now. My mom and I are very good examples of a lack of communication. I know that it is my fault. She is always trying to communicate with me, but I turn away and make her feel bad. I know she misses daddy a lot. Communication is very important in the family, so I really do not want to make the same mistake again. When parents want to talk, we just have to listen to them.

While my dad was deployed, I thought about his safety. I have learned not to think negatively. I think about him being okay and that is what matters. While my dad is deployed, I have to make some changes in my life. I have to become braver, stop being lazy, and take on new responsibilities. I have to learn to be strong about the things that I deal with so I start to think about the future. By thinking about the future, I focus on what my emotions will be when he comes back. That is what I did four years ago when I did not know if dad would return.

During my dad's first assignment, my mom joined the Family Readiness Group. There, they had activities for kids and orientations, too. There, I met kids that understood what I was going through. I was a child that did not understand what she felt about her dad's deployment. But with time, I matured and understood how to support my dad. Then I entered the deployed students’ group at school which helped a lot. I met students and friends that understood what I was going through. We also have field trips and activities to help me deal with my situation.

Having my dad deployed has taught me what to do and where to get help. The counselors at school are always there for me. Whenever I have a problem, I go to them and even if it is a love problem, they help me 24/7. Believe me, if you have a problem big or small, go to the counselors and they will help you a lot.

I dream. I dream, and every day I dream about the day my father returns from his assignment. I dream about everything going back to normal. I dream about happiness and all the wonderful experiences my family has gone through. I dream about my father returning home safely. This is my life as a military child, and I will continue to dream.

School, By Breann Barnes, Age 11

Being in a military family is not ordinary. You have to move around from city to city, school to school and house to house. Many different things happen when you are in a military family and changing schools is only one of those things. I go to school overseas in Sigonella, Italy. School overseas has its ups and downs, but knowing that you can say I lived in Italy or Guam or Japan is a once and a lifetime chance. The military schools overseas are great. They have nice teachers, nice looking classrooms, and a lot of the time, good students attend them.

I truly do not have a hard time making friends, but it is different for everyone. Sometimes it can take people three weeks or two days to make and meet new friends. Sometimes leaving the friends you made is hard, too. If you become best friends with someone and he or she has to leave, you feel emotional. One thing you learn being a military child is that friends come and go all the time. Now we have new ways to keep in touch such as email, Internet and telephone. Sometimes it can be easy or hard to leave or make new friends, but you just have to be flexible.

Teachers overseas are very nice and helpful and understand what it is like being in a school overseas. Coming to Italy and attending middle school was hard for me because it was my first time having different periods in the day. We also have an A day and B day schedule and many people have favorite days. Each school has its advantages. Being a military kid, I feel we go through troubles that may seem easy to a non-military kid like getting lost in the school or having different teachers and having to switch subjects and learn new material in classes. But I don't want you to think it is all a downer living overseas, because it is not. For example, when you live overseas, it is a once in a life time chance because if you think about it, not many kids can live overseas. We are the lucky ones because our mom or dad got this opportunity and it opened new doors for all families; doors to an overseas education that will be remembered forever.

The hardest adjustment is that certain schools teach different materials and have a different focus. In California, for example, reading was very important. In Washington, it was not as important. Math was the hardest adjustment of all because I started in California and when I went to Washington, the math was totally different. My grade in math kept going down lower and lower each day. The teachers would tell me that I should know what we were doing because I should have learned it the years before. I was not there so I did not learn it. They would try to explain and they would believe me, but they can't do too much except teach me.

Overseas some schools will go on field trips and so you could be living in Europe to explore Europe. How many kids can say that they went to school in Europe and they went on a field trip in Europe? Military kids learn a lot in school, but because they do have to move a lot, they learn about courage, responsibility and much more. Kids that are not in the military learn about that as well, but we have the chance to learn it faster and more often.

School is really different overseas because I never had pep rallies or football games when I lived in the United States. Overseas, we have a running club, football, baseball, and soccer teams. There are a lot more school activities and class choices for students to choose from. You can choose to play band, or learn Italian or another foreign language. The schools overseas are a lot smaller compared to when I lived in California. In California, I had over 1,000 kids in my grade school alone. Now there are about 300 kids in grades K-12 so that is a big difference.

Since the school is so small, my classes are smaller and teachers pay more attention to the students. The teachers get to know you and your personality so their expectations are high. Most of the kids at the school are well-behaved, because the teachers know the students well. That is a great advantage for the teachers.

School is difficult, but every time I come across a bump in the road, I always will remind myself living here is a once and a lifetime chance.

Swimming Across the World, By Greta Kinsey, Age 11

I am a military child, but that does not stop me from practicing and enjoying the sport that I love: swimming. I have been in over 30 pools around the world. Some of them, I have been in 200 times, and some only once.

I have moved my whole life. By the age of ten, I was settled into my eighth house. Moving is so much a part of my life, it is normal. I am in the sixth grade and I am in my eighth school. I guess I don't really mind all the moving as long as my new place I call home has a pool and a swim team.

I learned to swim in Alexandria, Virginia. My sister, Halladay, and I were both born in Alexandria. Before my third birthday, we moved to my third house and found a pool in Indian Head, Maryland. My favorite aunt, Aunt Lucy has a house with a pool in Frederick, Maryland. She is my favorite for many reasons, but the pool helps. My second sister, Annika, joined us when we lived in Maryland. She, like Halladay and me, was a water baby. I remember Monterey, California, because there was a pool with a water slide. I learned to love to slide into the water in Monterey, even though we were only there a few months before we moved to Sicily, Italy.

Sicily, Italy is very hot in the summer. Life in Sicily in the summer must include a pool or you will never enjoy the outside. It was in Sicily that I learned how to swim and joined my first competitive swim team.

In Sicily, when we first arrived, there was an old pool with a twirl-ly waterslide. It was very fun, but old and dirty. Soon, the construction of another pool attracted everyone's attention. My dad was the engineer in charge of building it.

After the new pool was finished, my sisters and I were the slide testers. Plenty of workers had tried the two new slides, but the engineers needed to know how far little kids would glide across the water at the end of the slide. My sisters and I, ages seven, five and three, were all strong swimmers, so we tested the slides! We were happy to be the first kids on the new slides.

During our time in Sicily, we met many Italian friends. Most of them have pools at their villas. We were invited to Sicilian pool parties. I remember Italian towns and places I've been by the pools I swam in.

In Sicily, I joined the Sigonella Swordfish, the base swim team. We swam in all home meets that year and even qualified to swim in our first European Championship meet. My sister, Halladay, and I traveled to our first away championship swim meet. That was my first time in a 50-meter pool. My sister and I were both afraid; 50 meters looks like forever if you are seven or five years old. We both swam faster than ever before.

Right after I turned eight, we moved to California. I continued to swim with my sisters. My youngest sister, Annika, who was now five years old, joined us on the Buenaventura Swim Club in Camarillo, California. During the time we lived in California, we raced and played in many pools and on many beaches in Southern California. I remember the towns and cities in California by the memory of the pool or the beach. I even raced in my first triathlons in California. One was in a pool in Santa Barbara. The other one was in a lake in Los Angeles. I remember everything about those races, especially the swims.

It was after the second triathlon that we learned we were moving back to Sicily. Back in Sicily, we gladly re-joined our first swim team, the Sigonella Swordfish. This time, my sisters and I were all older so we were able to travel to England, Germany and the Italian cities of Aviano, Lignano, Vicenza, Catania and Naples for swim meets. I remember the European trips we took by recalling the pool I raced in just before we took off to see the sights, like London, Cambridge, Venice, Pompeii, the Italian Dolomites, German Christmas markets, and the city of Berlin.

My daily schedule in all places is the same. I go to school. I go to swim practice. I eat dinner with my family. I do my homework and I go to sleep. My daily schedule is comforting for me because it is generally the same no matter where I live. I know what to expect. In Europe, I have to travel very far to compete for meets, but I see so many things along the way, it is worth the trip. I have traveled to Naples, Italy, more times than I'd like to recall. I have traveled by car, plane, train (that boards a ferry) and by overnight ferry. I always enjoy the trip regardless of the method of travel and I always look forward to swimming as fast as I can.

Next month, I will travel to Eindhoven in the Netherlands for my third European Champs. I am excited to swim fast and am excited about the family trip in Bruges in the days after the meet. I love the Navy and all the moves, because I travel to places all around the world to do what I traveled there for: to swim.

My Dad’s Fourth Deployment, By Trenton Sanders, Age 12

Our family lives overseas on a naval base in Sicily, Italy. I'm 12 years old. In my opinion, a deployment is when my dad goes with a group of people from our duty station to somewhere away from the family. He was on a humanitarian deployment to Nicaragua when I was nine months old. His second deployment was when I was six years old. He went to Iraq. The third one was to Kuwait when I was 10 years old. Soon my dad is leaving for Afghanistan on an Individual Augment or IA. We have been blessed as a military family in that my dad has only been deployed four times during his 16 years of service in the Navy. I have good and bad feelings about the deployment that is ahead for our family. These deployments have affected many parts of my life, but have made me stronger in many ways.

There are certain traditions we do before and after his deployments. First, we have a family meeting discussing our feelings about his deployment. He tells us where he is going and shows us on the map. It helps me to know where he is going to be by physically seeing the location on the map. Another tradition is he takes a picture of himself with me and writes a note on it and gives it to me the day he leaves. Then, for his return, we make signs welcoming him home. We also plan a large trip when he returns. It gives all of us something to plan for when he returns. The last deployment, we went to Paris, France and to Euro Disney. This deployment, we are hoping to go to Ireland.

Another piece of my life that is affected by military deployments is my education. During the second deployment my dad went on, my grades really fell. I feel now I have matured so I am not as emotional and naïve. I have a hard time staying on task when he leaves. My thoughts always seem to wander toward how he is and what he's doing. My mood will change to gloomy and gray. My dad is defending our country in the toughest and most dangerous places in the world while I am attending my classes, doing my homework and chores, and living my day-to-day routine here in Sigonella where I cannot do anything for him.

The separation is a pretty hard thing to get over. Then again, there are good times and bad times when he is gone. Some of the bad times are when we get reminded of his absence. Examples of this are someone asking “Where's your dad?” or thinking “What dad would do?” When he was on his last IA, I got depressed when I looked at the dinner table and saw one plate missing. My dad thinks it is very important for the family to eat together at dinner. Miranda, my six-year-old sister, would state “Where is daddy?” and “I want my daddy home!” in the evenings. When this happens, the three of us get teary and cry. Mom and I tell her that he is coming back soon and he is thinking of her, too. I believe deployments are one percent good in a way. They make me stronger and make me more responsible by assisting my family in our daily routines.

To help the three members of my family get our minds off my dad being deployed, we do fun family activities. To help us keep track of the time that has gone by, we make a paper chain that explains the highlights of each week as they passed by. Another activity is we have family fun nights where we watch movies, play games, or read to each other. Our biggest event is going back to the states during the summer to visit family and friends. Keeping busy with our many events and after school activities assists us in passing the long, hard eight months of my dad's deployment.

In conclusion, this deployment, I feel I am more mature and I have had more experience than other kids. It will still be tough because he will be in an even more unsafe area than any other IA deployment he has experienced. The areas I have talked about in my essay hit me the most when he has gone to wherever.

Living in Germany, By Morgan Stockdill, Age 11

Hi, I'm here to tell you all about the good and bad things that by living overseas as a military child may happen to you. My dad is a 1st Sergeant in the Army and I live in Schweinfurt, Germany. I am a sixth grader in Schweinfurt Middle School, home of the Golden Nights. I am not the coolest person in school, but I am smart. I am an average looking person with brown hair, brown eyes and freckles. I have one younger brother, one older sister and so I'm the middle child. I was born in Fort Polk, Louisiana in 1998 and lived there only one year and then we moved to Fort Benning, Georgia. My brother was born in Fort Benning, Georgia in 2000. We stayed there for almost two years and then moved to Germany in 2001. I lived in Germany nine years and I am still here. It's amazing— Most people move in about three or four years, but I've been stuck here forever. These are a few facts about me and what I'm about to write about. I hope you enjoy my story.

My family and I have traveled to many places around Europe and we even took an 11-hour plane flight to Japan (which gave me a headache). This is one of my favorite things about living abroad. When I go home to the states and tell my cousins about all the places I've been, their eyes like pop out. My cousins told me that they have only been to Florida, Canada, and Pennsylvania, where they live. I thought Columbus showed us that the world is not flat and that you won't fall off the edge if you travel too far. So why don't people in the USA travel on a plane and go somewhere new, so they may even learn something? I’ll bet that many people in the USA don't even leave the continent of North America. Leaving North America is only one advantage of living abroad. While traveling, you can learn about different cultures, customs, and languages. You get to see great things like the Mona Lisa in Paris, the Blarney stone in Ireland, the Great Pyramids of Giza in Egypt, Tulips of Holland, Mt. Fuji in Japan, and the Leaning Tower of Pisa in Italy. All these things I have seen. Do you think that the people in the U.S.A. kind of live in a bubble? Some people think that there is nothing more than where they live and what they have seen. Traveling is my favorite thing about living abroad.

Living abroad is very different than living in the USA. There are many things you have to get used to. While living in Germany, I have learned how to look for certain things. For instance, if I was looking for a gift for my friend, I would have to go the Post Exchange, because over here we don't have a mall, book store, or Toys R Us. We don't get all the products that can be found in the U.S. The people here learn English in school, but sometimes are not the best at it. So when you live here you learn how to speak German also. Staying in touch with friends and family is sometimes a pain in the butt, but we make it. Sometimes I wish that we were in the U.S., but then I remember how many things I love over here.

I would like to tell you about Germany and other ways it's different from the USA. First, all the stores are closed on Sunday and on most holidays. A lot of people ride bikes around here. My dad and I have ridden from my house all the way through Schweinfurt to where my mom works on base (which most of the time takes an hour). In spring, every town makes a May Pole, which is a big wooden pole that shows the different stores that are in the town. In my town, once a May Pole split in half. Schnitzel is a common German food as is bratwurst, which is a sausage-like hotdog. If you came and ate German food, you would never want to leave.

These are a few facts about Germany. Maybe one day you could come here and enjoy these things yourself.

I hope you now understand why living abroad is so cool, fun, fantastic, and awesome. Germany is just one of the places you could be stationed abroad. Living abroad may be full of challenges, but it is worth it.

Making Friends, By Johnathan Shelton, Age 12

Because I am a military kid, I know I only have a certain amount of time to make friends. We usually move every three years, so I don't have time to wait. Making friends is easy for me. Every place my family lives, it usually takes me two or three days to make a friend. I usually ride around the area where we are living and try to find a kid that looks my age. I also sometimes hang out with my older brother's friends. The reason I jump right in and try to make friends is that sooner or later, the video games start to get to me.

The hard part about making friends in a military place is finding out how far away they are. Sometimes my friends move before I do. That is sort of hard because then I don't have as many friends left. It is also hard when I move and have to leave my friends behind. For example, when I left Tennessee, I left four friends. It made me feel sort of bad, but I knew I would get over it soon. I think I'm a very good friend because I will help you with problems.

I keep in touch with my friends through email. Sometimes we get to visit my friends in other places and it is always fun to see them. Because I am a military child, I get to meet people I wouldn't have met otherwise.