It’s the common question everyone gets asked when they meet someone new. Everyone wants to know the background of the person. Where they grew up, and the friends they have. Some kids don’t grow up in one place.
I moved seven times in 21 years. Most people are like, "Woah, that’s a lot of moving" or "Did you like moving all the time?" Personally, I absolutely loved it. I was able to experience things that some people don’t to get experience until they are older. I got the opportunity to do it while growing up. I have some of the best memories of living overseas and I have friends in almost every state. I know that if I needed anything there would be support from anyone. That is what is great about being a military child.
However, being a military child means moving every so often. You set up roots in a town and then usually three years later, you’re being uprooted again. Example, you make friends in the town, become best friends and then eventually you’re told that you’re moving. It’s rough at first.
You have to leave your friends and go to a new town/country and make friends all over again. Being the new person isn’t always the best. Being a military child doesn’t mean you get the luxury of growing up in the same house, having the same friends, or going to the same school. Being a military child means there are other luxuries: meeting friends in new states/countries, exploring the world and being open to the world outside of the United States.
In college, there are people from all over the United States who have ended up on one campus are becoming friends. Everyone wants to know where each other is from. Everyone gets asked, “Where are you from?"
If I’m in a group of friends, someone might say New Jersey, another Florida, another, Arizona. Now it’s my turn. I have the deer in the headlight look and I start stammering. What do I say? I don’t know. How far back do you want me to go? Want my home state? The state I lived the longest? Or the place I liked the best? The place that I was born is different from the place I graduated high school from, so which one do I tell them? Do I just go through the entire story of how I got to where I am now standing, or do I just give them the short story? I really don't know.
I hate the question because I'm jealous of the kids that grew up in the same town and have roots to their hometown. I'm jealous because my friends get to go home and hang out with friends they went to elementary through high school with. I don't get to do that. My friends are scattered and I don't get to see them very often.
Home has always been where the Army sends us, whether that be Germany, Italy, or Arizona. So when I get asked “Where are you from?”, I’m starting to reply with “I’m a child of the world.” I’ve been around the world and back, and I have roots in multiple countries/states. I’m a child of the world, and I’m proud to be one.
