Personal Narrative: My Life As A Military Brat

I just assumed I would never have to experience it. Growing up in the military, my family was always moving. It was enjoyable and saddening at the same time. I would always be crushed when we would get our Permanent Change of Station orders (PCS) after three years and I had to say good-bye to my newly found home. It was hard to leave everything behind and start over, but I became good at it.

This is what makes United States Of America so beautiful to so many others not just to those who were lucky enough to be born here. I am proud to call United States by country and truly know how lucky we are to have the rights we have.America was not built by only one person's view and cannot continue to grow with only one person's view. Americans are a united community who stands tall and proud and works coherently in order to accomplish

Finding new friends was not easy for me, because people here are not friendly, but in my culture we usually do not make new friends with ease. Here I have learned how to not fight yourself to become a new friend and to be yourself as a symbol that everyone wants to be. One day before I left the city, I tried to gather the necessary things as important documents, clothes and stuff with me. It was a long journey and the first in my life alone, but I was very excited and curious to visit the new

My father had just got another job offer to another company, which meant it was time to move! This “big” move that had caused me to change for the better. I learned to accept change and what it offers. Moving has changed me by helping me deal with change, making new friends, and finding who I am. To begin with, change is not always easy nor is it exciting.

The short, fun days as a little girl that she remembers are now long days spent inside.Dealing with family problems and awkward relationships, Taylor tries to make the most out her summer and takes the second chance to make things right with her family, friends, and lost loves. One of the main themes in this novel is to appreciate what you have before it's gone. Within the story, Taylor loses a lot of her old friends and one of the most important role models she had, her father. They bonded like no one else, and when he was gone, she had realized how many things in her life he had done that she had taken for granted. As stated in the text, “A thousand moments I had just taken for granted-mostly because I had assumed that there would be a thousand more.”(pg.368) For example, whenever Taylor had snuck out of the house and “ran away”, her father would always find her and pick her up in his car.

My dad served in the United States Navy for 24 years. In the spring of 2009, my dad was deployed to Afghanistan. To be specific, he left on Sunday, April 5, 2009 at 5:00 in the morning. I woke up that morning, dreading what was about to happen. My dad had been with me all my life, to think that in a few short hours that my dad would be on a bus to the airport was heartbreaking.

Throughout the story, there are several examples of veterans struggling because they no longer live the life they used to. The struggle continues even “thirty years after military discharge,” (Shay 6) causing [one veteran] to “[use] up four weeks of vacation time, 150 hours of sick time, and 80 hours without pay” (Shay 6) in only one year. Bear, a Vietnam veteran, mainly has to leave work in order to “prevent himself from killing somebody, but also to receive treatment at the VA” (Shay 6). Bear isn’t able to live a normal life because of the violent military experiences he lived through. If forced to live a “normal” life, he believes he would put everyone (coworkers and family alike) in harm's way.

There is an increasing amount of soldiers getting discharged. And if the soldier don’t get an honorable discharge the soldier don’t get all of his/hers benefits. He would, how ever, have got some benefits of being a veteran. Because there are more soldiers getting discharged, they will not have enough money to survive . The cost of groceries one week is about $289 that means that on a soldier's salary and if he doesn't get the discounts for a retired vet, or a vet who had been honorably discharged.

Diversity has been an integral part of the fabric of my life. Growing up as an Army Brat was very multi faceted. One of the most positive elements was the exposure I received in my schools and on post. My childhood neighborhoods were rich with different cultures, races and religious backgrounds. Many of my oldest friends share unique traditions that to the average town, would seem remarkable and even unfathomable.

When the topic of volunteering would be mentioned upon me and my peers, we would most likely change the subject or disperse. Volunteering is something that is rising in our generation, yet is hidden in the shadows at the same time. In Kent Ansen’s essay, “Should the United States Establish Mandatory Public Service for Young Adults?” the author tells the audience why public service should be mandatory. I believe that volunteering is an amazing subject that comes with unbelievable benefits to the person and the environment that is affected by the, but at the same time, should not be mandatory for everyone. In my lifetime, I have had multiple times of public service.

Becky Lynn Struck is a 39 year old wife and caretaker of my dad and I, plus our 3 bulldogs. She graduated from Poynette high school in 1995, she is still friends with many of her high school friends today ,and many of them had kids who are now my friends. Mom did go to college but only for a semester, then she decided to get a job instead. She has one brother, Jason, who lives in Pewaukee with his two kids, they haven’t seen or talked to each other in 10 years. Then my grandparents, John and Cheryl live over by the Mackenzie Center, in the same house my mom grew up in.

She overcomes the losses of several important people in her life, and moves on to become a better person. At one point, James says, “My mother is the only individual I have ever known who has been in the process of moving on for ten years straight” (McBride 268). Ruth was crippled by the losses of both Andrew and Hunter, and became loose with her parenting style. Eventually, after many years, she got a grip and began to parent her children. Although there were rough patches, she overcomes the losses of her husbands.

What was difficult for me was that after my dismissal I immediately began applying for jobs and handing out my resume. Went on many interviews and made top 5 and then top two. I could not find a job, I would make first, second, and third process interviews but could never get a position. I had assumed it was because of my education, I did finish high school but just a few semesters of college. I focused on my family that started really young, before I graduated high school, I had my first child and in my early twenties had two more.

James loves his sons, daughter, and wife very much. James was on the march from MT, to Jackson which is the march against fear on June 5,1966. James got shot by a sniper in the march against fear. James went to the hospital, but rejoined the march against fear. James also helped balance education, activism, and equal rights for African American during the march against fear.

Angela Arviso Rodriguez is requesting an institutional verification of her linguistic background to apply for a time extension to Pearson. She graduated from Northern Arizona University with a Bachelor of Elementary Education back in 2006. Angela will be taking the NES Elementary Education Subtest I & II. Angela has been teaching the past ten years; first at Yuma High school and she is currently teaching at Immaculate Conception middle school grade 7th to 8th. Ms. Arviso Rodriguez is planning to continue her education with a master degree in Education.