Mosaic of Places (3rd Place)

The following essay is the third place winner of our 2025 Month of the Military Child Writing Contest. The theme was, "Home is Where the Orders Take Us." Congratulations to Sophia B., a high school senior!

Eight long years away from “home.” By the summer of 2025, I will have spent eight years overseas in Europe. Three in Germany, right before fifth grade, but in a homely American school. The next two were in Poland, at a British International school. Finally, my last three were in Italy, ending my academic career in another American school. A home away from home, some would say. Many would pity my displacement from the land of the great.

While such a move was daunting for 9-year-old me, it was necessary for my growth. I was not forever missing my home. I had previously moved all around the United States, too, but European countries, visits to London and Paris over Memorial Day weekend, and learning another language became my norm. With being an “honorary European,” as one of my Polish friends coined the term, visions of the United States became more and more exotic. As I have aged, too, the typical American high school experience has turned foreign and sour. Driving independently at age sixteen, working regularly at the local Dairy Queen, and school-shooting culture are concepts that I will never fully grasp.

European culture has fully consumed and changed my worldviews in ways Americans will never fathom unless their upbringing is akin to mine. I shy away from the sight of guns and have a deeper understanding of other cultures and languages. This is not to say America is not culturally rich or lacking in luster. Europe simply is different; these differences carry greater meaning and significance for its people. Some do not.

Moving made me feel terribly lonely and isolated every time. But without Europe, my soul and essence would not be mine. I would not carry myself the same way. I would see the world in a different color. My words, my beliefs, and my thoughts would cease to ever exist. All-American me could have been right and just to the same level, but the one writing this piece would have never lived such a beautiful life with amazing experiences thus far.

My home is not a fixed location, not Europe or America, but rather me, and the warming experiences I bring with me wherever I go. Moving from place to place, I have learned how to settle down, pick everything back up, and do it all again. The key to such a lifestyle is to love where I am, never forget my previous adventures, and stay excited for my next ones. While change is always hard, my experiences have let me make peace with it and even enjoy it, more than others can.

I live as a conglomerate of memories, cultures, and the people I have met along the way. I am a colorful mosaic composed of all my circumstances, and Europe just happened to add more vibrant pieces.