"Where are you from?" Normally, this seemingly simple question is responded to with a simple answer. For us Army Brats, this question makes our heads hurt. Do you want to know where I was born? North Carolina. Or maybe you're asking where I've lived the longest? Georgia. Perhaps, the most unique place I've ever lived? Hawai'i. Oh, you want to know where I graduated high school? Florida. By that point, whatever boy asked me that question is no longer interested in conversation because he's convinced I'm insane for not possibly knowing where I'm from. College is quite different for those of us that grew up with an alarm tone called cadence.
I got a lot of funny looks the first few times I wanted to go eat and accidentally called the dining hall a mess hall. The civilian kids thought the pizza and chicken sandwiches looked like food they would be served in prison, I thought it looked a world better than the MRE's I had eaten at some events I had been to for my dad. To me, this food was awesome and I was really happy to have hot meals ready for me.
For all the essentials, I let everyone know that we needed to make a trip to the commissary. To this, I got a pretty similar reaction to my mess hall remark. Turns out, everyone calls them grocery stores in the civilian world and you have to pay tax. Socially, I do just fine here. With all the moves I've made, I've done a pretty good job at learning how to make friends. I can pretty much talk to a brick wall about anything and everything. My favorite topics are world issues and new military developments. All of my professors and TA's make comments when I call them ma'am or sir because they just aren't used to the students speaking that anymore. What they don't know is that I got into some deep trouble in school and at home if I didn't show that respect to adults, so that comes as an instinct to me. They usually will ask me where I'm from, to which I respond with the dialogue from earlier.
You always useless knowledge about everything. I've noticed in conversations still that someone will ask a pretty off the wall question and I will have an answer because somewhere down the line during my army brat career, I was either tested on it or encountered it.
Most of my friends in college have friends that go to other schools, some of them out of state. Us Army Brats have friends that go to Universities in different states, but some of us even have friend that attend school in other countries!
Finally, making the move to college is hard for a lot of Freshmen. For most Freshmen, this is the first time they've ever been away from their parents. Army Brats are no stranger to long distance friendships and relationships with our family. We have mastered the art of FaceTime calls and keeping in touch, especially on the days that we seem to be really missing home. I know for me, I kept strong because I would remember all the times my dad would have to be away from the whole family. If he could do that, then I could absolutely make it through college without them in the same city as me.
