In my short 17 years of life, I have experienced more than the average person does in their entire lifetime. Due to my father being in the Air Force, I have been all over the United States of America and all over the world and have seen things most people only read about. There are also hardships that go along with being a military dependent that has shaped me into the person I am today in many ways. However, the single event that had the biggest impact and shaped my identity was the birth of my younger brother. .
I was born in Arizona on 27 February 1997 but this is not where I call home. Military families, like mine, usually move about every two or three years which turns the place I was born into one of the many locations we have lived. This continual movement, although a hardship, has led me to realize home is where my family is and it is the people that make it a home. There are good and bad things about each place we have lived but it is the memories we make with family and friends that mean the most to me. Every time we move it is difficult leaving friends and the support network but we have learned to embrace the new opportunities and experiences that always come with moving to a new place. The hardship of dealing with my father's deployments is always easier after we have been somewhere long enough to make friends who provide a support network. I would like to mention the tremendous difference technology has made allowing us to stay in touch with my father while he is deployed and even with old friends while we transition to a new place. To say all of this hasn't had an impact on the person I have become would be ridiculous. .
The event that has had the greatest impact on me happened when I was three years old while living in Florida. This event was the birth of my younger brother, Joshua. Being three at the time I didn't really grasp what it meant to be an older brother, but as I have gotten older I have grown to realize the magnitude of the responsibility that comes with the title "big brother.
