Year: 11th gradeAge: 17School: Vicenza High SchoolPlaces lived: Emerald Isle, N.C.; Sigonella, Sicily; Aviano, Italy; Vicenza, ItalyFavorite assignment: Vicenza, ItalyWhat is your favorite keepsake or souvenir? My Venetian masksPlans for the future: Attend University of North Carolina

We need to talk. These four dreaded words have a completely different meaning for military kids than they do for most. For military kids they can only mean one thing — it is time for another move. The last time I heard these four words, they were followed by another five telling me that we were moving to Italy. After hearing this news I did not throw a fit, slam the door in my parents’ faces, or tell them that I hate them. Instead, I gave an indifferent look and thought, “What’s another three years in Italy going to hurt?”

This is my third time living in Italy. After the second time, living overseas begins to lose its surrealism. Living overseas can be difficult for many kids, especially those who deny the fact that they are living in an exciting new country instead of embracing it. These are the kids that find the transition hard and are slower at making new friends.

I am grateful to my parents for making the moves much easier than they are for many. They encourage me and my siblings to become as involved in the community as we can as soon as we arrive yet give us a shoulder to cry on if we come down with a case of homesickness.

Adaptation is a difficult skill to acquire and can only be done with practice. During my first major move, to Aviano, Italy, I was slow at making friends and separated myself from other kids. For some reason, I had the idea that the other kids would not want to be my friend because they already had their friends. It was not until a girl in my computer class told me just to stay by her all day and introduced me to her friends that I realized the people there wanted to get to know me.

I have come into the philosophy that people do want to get to know a new person and it is worth talking to and trying to make friends with everybody. As military kids, we are required to adapt to new environments quickly if we are to flourish in our new home. We learn to face the difficulties of being a new face many times before most kids in the States must do the same when they leave for college.

Some would disagree, but I believe the benefits outweigh the small inconveniences. Even though it may not be readily obvious, we acquire people skills and new perspectives that will benefit us throughout our lives. As military kids, we learn to see a move not as another good-bye to friends but to a new opportunity to make new friends and new memories.

This involvement allows us to make friends quickly and to feel part of the community almost instantly.

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