Stress comes in different forms as a military kid. This week in Little Legacies, Kamden Raines and Brooklyn Zamora share their own experiences and opinions of living the military lifestyle. A theme worth noting is that, where there is struggle, there also seems to be knowledge, understanding, and positivity. These stressors, when addressed through conversation and community, become the building blocks to resiliency and the foundation to wisdom.
Kamden Raines:
What struggles do you face as a military child?
There are a lot of struggles being a military child. One is that I can never really become settled in a house because we are always moving. I have gotten used to it, but it is still hard. Also, when I make friends and then have to leave, it can be hard to stay in contact. Being that I am 13, another struggle for me is stress. This struggle is a big one because when I move it means a new school, house, and making new friends. I worry about whether they will invite me places or if we will become friends. I also wonder if they will laugh at me or walk away. That is probably the worst struggle: everything is new. I always try to fit in and moving to a new place makes my stress shoot up like a rocket!
For school, another struggle is lunch. If I have not made any friends, I feel lost. Then I have to find a decent looking group of kids and ask if I can sit with them. Other kids may have more struggles, but these are my personal struggles with being a military child. I call them my struggle factors.
Brooklyn Zamora:
What struggles do you face as a military child?
One of the struggles is that we move away every three or four years. In Alaska, our school, Orion Elementary, was my most favorite school that I have been to. I was there from kindergarten to third grade. All my teachers and classmates were really kind to me. They were my friends. Then, a couple years later, we moved to New York. It is really fun being a Military Child, but you move every so often, you make friends, then move away. But, you get to start fresh and a new chapter in your life story.
What does the word “normal” mean to you?
Honestly, it means nothing to me. It means what other people who aren’t military are. Even if I try to be “normal”, I can’t. I have my own personality. I am funny. I can imitate voices of Disney Characters or just other characters from movies. I always am trying to think of fun ways to make things more fun and I always help whenever I can. So normal? You can never make me be normal.
Cheers to Kamden and Brooklyn and their incredible and honest words!
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