Well, here we are. About to start up school, I am finally a junior. AN UPPERCLASSMAN. WOOHOO.
To be honest, I didn’t think I would make it here. There were so many things preventing my path, from my medical conditions to everyday people.
I’ve changed schools in the last 2 years, 3 times. THREE DIFFERENT HIGH SCHOOLS IN TWO YEARS. I don’t know how I did it. To learn all those teachers' names and classmates. You could call me Superman. But in all honesty, it hurts me more than you know.
I left the great state of Arizona to move to Wisconsin. The military usually moves families every three years so I left at three years. Right in the middle of my freshman year. I went to a small school that heavily doesn’t accept the military. I had one really close friend but she wasn’t always there. I had a band but I was shunned because I came so late into the year. I was also bullied for 4 months. Enough to be put in a sad stage. I didn’t want to get up in the mornings anymore. So, my parents decided over the summer that I needed to go to a different high school. School was about to start which means band camp is coming before it. When Band Camp started to come I used to cry. I would put myself down and tell myself that I would be shunned again and I really didn’t deserve any sympathy.
Then the day finally came, I showed up to Band Camp shaking, ready to play but worried. Before I could find the band room, I got lost in the new school. When I finally found the room, I was 30 minutes early and walked into a meeting of section leaders and drum majors. I was the only newbie. I sat in the back watching our show come together.
It went incredible, I made friends, found matching classes. I even got close to the drum majors.
Band camp finally came to an end and I had friends, soaked clothes, and newfound confidence.
I lived the year making friends, and enemies. Attended homecoming, and got invited to prom with my Junior friends. Corona hit but I still tried out for drum major and Jazz band.
I got into both. I’ve made a difference, something I strive for every day. I was the new kid and now I am directing a band of 100.
The point of this article is to show that even when everything comes your way and you are at your lowest, you can prevail. We are military children for a reason. We are the dandelion: we go with the flow and we live in the toughest conditions. We live with white walls and most of us don't ever get to see colored walls until we are out of the nest. We get to see the world, and yeah, it sucks leaving friends and starting new lives, but we live with it and we don’t know how our lives would have been if we didn’t have this.
We are military children. HOO-AH.