- “Yes sir/ma’am” and “No sir/ma’am” are a part of your vocabulary forever and always.
- Going on base is the best thing ever; it’s like a home away from home.
- Another one of the best things ever: the commissary.
- Loving your parents and any siblings you may have because you have always been around them...literally...there is no escaping (especially when you get stationed in another country). What's even better are the long road trips back to visit family. You know how to handle a long car ride with your family like a pro.
- Having a best friend that lives hours away from you, because your family got stationed somewhere else. But, when you're finally reunited, it goes a little like this:
- Getting used to packing up and moving all over again every two and a half years.
- That awkward moment when people ask, "so where are you from?" and you honestly have no idea what to tell them, because you've moved so many times.
- Telling people how many times you've moved, and how many different schools you've been to. You probably got a reaction like this:
- Getting to live in another country.
- Skyping your mom or dad on Christmas when they’re deployed so it’s like they’re there. It’s hard, but it’s better than nothing.
- Going to military health centers, AKA the worst place ever, especially if you have to go there because they lost your labs...again. Or, better yet, you have to go pick up a prescription. Let's just say you're going to be waiting awhile.
- Becoming a pro at being the new student. You learn how to read people pretty fast, and if they're going to be your friend or not.
- Finally being reunited with your mom or dad when they come back from overseas.
Even with some negatives, you wouldn’t trade the experience of being a military kid for anything. It made you into the person you are today, and also made you appreciate your family way sooner than most people your age even begin to. You have made a lot of friends over the years, and even if you don't talk to them as much as you once did, you always remember the ones that made living in that place for two and a half years a great time. I was always a little jealous of the people who had basically lived in the same place their entire lives, but then I remember how proud I am to be an army brat. Thank you to all of those service members out there for your service, and Happy Memorial Day.
