Sign up to see more
SignupAlready a member?
LoginBy continuing, you agree to Sociomix's Terms of Service, Privacy Policy
Five elementary schools, two middle schools, and two high schools. Five states, two countries, and up to ten different houses. Not your typical childhood life is it? Well for a military brat like me, it's really not all that far fetched. For the majority of us, we are having to move every few months or years, if you are lucky enough. It is not easy, but we do it because our parents fight for our country and what we stand for. Our parents do something admirable, so we hold our heads high and make the best of every new home and every new situation we are in.
However, there are some obstacles that never get easier no matter how many times a family may move. In every county, and in every state the school systems are run in different ways, with different expectations of their teachers as well as their students. To be thrown into a new school, with no friends and no one to help you is very difficult. Everything from the way the school is built, to the educational level, could all be completely different from the school before.
In elementary school, your parents are not allowed to walk around with you for a week to help you get settled. In middle school and high school, there are no teachers to walk around with you to show you where your next class is going to be. On the first day of class, you have no idea what the teacher is going to expect you to know or what level she expects you to be at.
There are no set guidelines for the schools in the United States. Every school has a different view of what students should know and at what year. If your last school was more relaxed in their teaching methods, you would be left behind. If they were more strict, then you would be left to relearn everything and you would be left alone for the whole year. Each place is different. Each place has no warning and no help.
One thing that remains constant, however, is the fact that in every school, every student has a guidance counselor they can go to for their academic and personal needs. Being the new student, junior year in high school, you need help in both categories.
Halfway through high school, moving from a DODEA school in Germany to a public high school in Harnett County, North Carolina, a person needs help. Not once was I called into the guidance office to see how I was adjusting. My little sister, a new student as a freshman in this school, was never talked to and never even given a second thought. The one person that can help a student in a school, does nothing. Does not help in any way possible. Not a single conversation, not a single email, nothing.
In all of my years of being raised in a military family, not once was I pulled into a guidance counselor’s office. Not when I moved half-way through first grade from Georgia to a school in Oklahoma. Not when I moved from Oklahoma to North Carolina in third grade to a DODEA school on Fort Bragg. Then again in fourth grade, when I moved to a public school, I was on my own with no office visit. In seventh grade, I moved to Germany, amidst all military kids and I’m not the only new student this year. However, not one of us was asked how we were doing or how our transition was going. We are left to fend for ourselves, and we feel forgotten, and unimportant.
We become resilient. Almost like a chameleon, easily adaptable in nearly every situation. We blend well into our environment, you barely know we’re there. Everyone barely knows we’re there. We pack up our lives, at a moment's notice, and start the process all over again. We leave our friends, we leave our new lives, and they now join our old ones. Our lives are tossed around and lost in the masses. We lose our friends everywhere we go, and we lose ourselves, little by little. In order to survive, we must adapt, and we must learn the social ways of our new home, as well as the academics of our new school.
Vogue_Vibes
4y ago
The resilience we developed is amazing, but I wish it hadn't come at such a high emotional cost.
AltCinema_Fanatic_303
4y ago
This article really captures the unique challenges we faced. I hope it helps others understand our experience better.
RickyT
4y ago
Despite all the challenges, I wouldn't change my experience. It shaped who I am in ways I'm grateful for.
Aria
4y ago
The lack of continuity in education is a serious issue that needs addressing. It affects so many military families.
PenelopeRivera
4y ago
My experience taught me that home isn't a place, it's the people you're with. That's something I still carry with me.
Organic_Fuel_101
4y ago
The chameleon comparison is perfect. We learned to adapt quickly just to survive.
RetroTV_Collector
4y ago
I appreciate how the article captures both the challenges and the resilience we developed.
SeriesJunkie_77
4y ago
This brought back so many memories. I hadn't thought about those first-day-of-school feelings in years.
Fienberg_Feature
4y ago
Looking back, I realize how much strength it took to start over repeatedly. We were tougher than we knew.
Lily_Rose92
4y ago
The part about losing friends really hits hard. Social media helps now, but back then it was like starting from scratch every time.
AllisonJ
4y ago
We definitely need more standardized education across states. The current system really hurts military kids.
OldSchoolTunes
4y ago
It's interesting how we all developed different coping mechanisms. Some of us became super outgoing, others more reserved.
Lang_Ledger
4y ago
The article doesn't mention the unique perspective we gain from living in different places. That's actually a huge advantage.
ViralVideo_King_33
4y ago
I'm thankful for the experience now, but I wish there had been more support systems in place when I was going through it.
ConcertHopper
4y ago
Military kids are some of the most resilient people I know. We learned to handle change like champions.
VibrantVitality
4y ago
The description of feeling forgotten and unimportant really struck me. That's exactly how it felt sometimes.
Eli
4y ago
I think schools need to implement better buddy systems for new military kids. Having a peer guide would help so much.
RileyStewart
4y ago
Anyone else become really good at reading social cues? I had to learn quickly how to fit in at each new school.
GroundedAndGlowing
4y ago
The constant moving taught me to live minimally. It's hard to accumulate stuff when you move every couple years.
Veronica99
4y ago
I'm proud of my military kid background. It made me more independent and adaptable than most of my peers.
SeriesFinale_Critic_707
4y ago
The article nails it about having to figure everything out on your own. No one ever showed me around or helped me adjust.
Hadley_Starlit
4y ago
I learned to keep my relationships surface-level because I knew I'd be leaving soon anyway. That's had lasting effects.
Anya-Carter
4y ago
There should be mandatory training for school staff on how to support military children. The current system isn't working.
EnergizedLiving
4y ago
What helped me most was connecting with other military kids who understood what I was going through.
Vitality_Queen_42
4y ago
The emotional toll of constantly starting over is something I'm still dealing with as an adult.
TheGoodLifeVibes
4y ago
I became an expert at being the new kid. First day of school? No problem, I've done this ten times before.
CelestialNomadX
4y ago
True, but let's not forget how hard it was to maintain any sense of consistency in our lives.
MovieQuotesKing_Lucas
4y ago
Living overseas was the best part of my military kid experience. Those memories are priceless.
Tranquil-Heart_22
4y ago
The skills we learned as military kids are invaluable. I can adapt to any situation now without breaking a sweat.
Designer-Fit
4y ago
I wish more teachers understood what military kids go through. A little extra attention could make such a difference.
JuneX
4y ago
My parents tried their best to make each move an adventure, but it was still really hard sometimes.
HyperDriveX
4y ago
The article perfectly captures how isolating it can feel, especially in those first few weeks at a new school.
Nicole-Grant
4y ago
I actually had the opposite experience with making friends. Being forced to adapt made me more outgoing and better at connecting with people quickly.
Rachael-Carson
4y ago
The part about losing ourselves little by little really resonates with me. It took years to figure out who I really was.
EleanorM
4y ago
Anyone else feel like they developed commitment issues from moving so much? I still struggle with putting down roots anywhere.
Empowered_Mindset_999
4y ago
Sometimes I feel like people don't understand how much we sacrificed as military kids. It wasn't just our parents serving, it was the whole family.
Beatrice_Cloud
4y ago
The lack of standardized education across states is a huge problem. I was learning the same things multiple times in some subjects and missing crucial parts in others.
DarkVisionary
4y ago
I find it interesting how different DODEA schools are from regular public schools. That transition was particularly challenging for me.
Athena99
4y ago
The resilience part is so true. I'm grateful for that skill now as an adult. It's helped me in my career tremendously.
Luxury-Fix
5y ago
Something not mentioned is how this lifestyle affects college applications. It's hard to maintain consistent extracurriculars when you're always moving.
Classy-Vision
5y ago
I think the article understates how challenging it is to move during high school. Those years were particularly rough for me.
ForeverTogether
5y ago
My kids are going through this now as military brats. It breaks my heart to see them struggle, but they're becoming such strong individuals.
Inner_Peace_Unlocked
5y ago
Looking back, I wish schools had better support systems in place for military children. We really needed more help with transitions.
TechRogue
5y ago
The academic inconsistency between schools was my biggest struggle. I was always either ahead or behind.
Wellness_Vision_101
5y ago
I actually loved moving around! It gave me a chance to experience different cultures and meet new people. Not everything about being a military kid is negative.
GutHealth-Guru
5y ago
The hardest part for me was always saying goodbye to friends. You never really get used to that feeling.
SkylarJane
5y ago
I respectfully disagree about the completely negative take on guidance counselors. My experience was different. I had some really supportive ones who helped me adjust.
Anime_Addict_909
5y ago
The comparison to a chameleon is so accurate. We learned to blend in quickly because we had no other choice.
Whitney-Burke
5y ago
While I understand the challenges, I think being a military kid also brings unique advantages. We learn adaptability and resilience from an early age.
PrimeTimeViewer
5y ago
I can relate to everything mentioned here. The part about guidance counselors really struck a chord with me. I never got help adjusting either.
Serene-Soul_999
5y ago
This article really hits home. Growing up as a military kid was exactly like this. The constant moving and readjusting was tough but made me who I am today.
Taking care of yourself includes mental health. Life is on your timeline, not anyone elses.
Sharing with you my personal story of the first encounter with love. Only want to help some of you to understand that sometimes someone is really not made for you.
Growing up, I lived a shelter life in the backwoods of Northeastern Pennsylvania, now that I attend college in New Jersey, I've learned a lot.
Choosing a learning path for your child is not so black and white for parents as you might think.
There are a number of ways that we have adjusted to living in quarantine.
A brief overview on the history of generations and Generational Theory
How does a professional-student transition into life after school? A list of what I wish I knew and what I know now after graduating.
Going to an all-girls school may sound boring, but it really is a life-changing experience.
The standards of education have dramatically changed since the last year 2020 where the methods of meeting in a classroom with a teacher and having an interaction with other students have now been challenged and transformed to remote learning. According to Andy Lalwani's,The Most Popular education trends in 2021is the fact that students will be able to learn faster which will make them smarter to be far more effective in determining the career path, however, teachers need to be more willing to accept not only the constant demands and growth of technology but how to use their classroom in a whole new way which includes helpful steps to make a positive learning environment educational.
Achievement motivation is considered to be the need every human being has in order to achieve anything in life. It is the persistence for making one's aspiration, ambitions, and dreams come true, putting all the efforts into the performance to receive an evaluation according to certain standards of excellence. This sort of behavior is known as achievement-oriented. Such motivation comes from knowing your responsibilities and the outcomes when failure or success is all the result of your efforts. The main goal is to succeed, to give the best of your abilities regarding the standards of excellence when you compete with others. This topic has become of great concern in all walks of life and human activities, from education to industry, sociology, and enterprising activities. Historians, economists, and others who are interested in economic development are interested in this issue as well.
