Kinds Of New Friends example essay topic

Paul Rosenblatt English 101 Douglas Research Paper Moving in the Military as a Child For some people, growing up consists of going to the same elementary school, the same middle school, the same high school, with all of the same people. This kind of environment encourages a strong relationship and bonding between the child and the kids who he / she grows up with. They have don't have to worry about moving and having to make new friends because everyone they know is there, and will be there for a good amount of time. However, the average military family doesn't get to experience this kind of luxury of having a close knit of friends and the comfort zone that a community provides. "Military life imposes unique demands on families. Military assignments often require families to be relocated far from family support networks and frequently require remote or temporary assignments.

Relocation impacts all aspects of family life, spouse employment, family finances, a sense of belonging and security. On average, military families move twice as often as civilian families. During the adolescent years, relocating requires youth to reestablish peer support systems and friends at a very difficult stage of development (web)". Being a child from a military family, I know the ups and downs of the lifestyle.

While one does get a chance to see the world, there are many social problems that can arise from all the moving that is done. I am the youngest child of four boys. Since I was born, I have moved ten times. I have lived from Hawaii to Germany. When I was a little boy, it wasn't so hard to pack up my bags and say bye to my friends. As the years went past, I became more mature and emotional.

The psychological affects of moving after making a good group of friends can really get to some people. I feel like I have been a nomad my whole life. A better example would be to compare me to the stages that a plant goes through. I started off as just a seed growing in a small pot. When I grew a little bigger, it was time to move to a larger pot. After getting attached to the environment I was in, it was time to move again.

Just when I was at my prime stage when the roots were all grown in, it was time to move again to another pot that would hold the grown plant. Each time the plant starts to grow in the soil and becomes attached; it gets ripped out and replanted to a new environment. This is how my whole life has been. The cycle of the plant moving from pot to pot is how my life has been growing up in a military family. "Over the course of two years, researchers conducted two qualitative studies to investigate the impact of moving on children. Participants were five families, each of which included gifted children and at least one parent presently or recently in the military.

Study 1 involved elementary students living on a military base, and students in Study 2 attended suburban high schools. While academic performance was not hindered by moving, parents and students reported that organizational inconsistencies among schools (e. g., widely varying criteria for admittance to gifted programs) were a frequent cause of frustration. Frequent relocations had little impact on parent and student perceptions of the gifted children's long-term social, emotional, and academic development. In the short term, however, certain children experienced varying degrees of social difficulties that appeared to result from the relocations (Plucker / Ye eke, p. 95)". While I have had a grade point average that hasn't fluctuated much, I feel like I lose something every time I have to make new friends. We move on average, every couple years.

My brothers and I would go to school during the year, try to get acquainted with new people as quickly as possible to find a crowd of friends. Just when we would become really good friends with other kids, it would be time to move again. This is very emotionally stressful. My oldest brother, Frank, went to two high schools, John went to three, and Drew went to two. I was lucky enough to be able to go to one high school. We moved after my junior year in high school once again.

I didn't want to have to start over at a new high school, so I decided to change my routine from a 5-minute drive to school, to a thirty-minute drive on the interstate. Keeping the close bonds with my friends was well worth the extra time I spent driving. I still remained active in my regular activities. My three older brothers were not able to have the luxury I had of being able to go to one high school. It is so much harder to get involved with clubs and activities when you don't really know anyone.

We are all very social, open-minded, easy-to-talk-to guys. I guess that is what happens after having to meet so many different people in so many different atmospheres. "Every three to four years, a military family finds itself relocating to another place. It might be a foreign country, it might be another state. They might not even hang around a place for three to four years. Their rotation time might be only a year or even six months.

By the time the children of the family have settled into their new school, gotten used to their teachers, and made new friends, it's time to go again. Many times, departures are sad and tearful (web)". Moving will be a part of the military lifestyle for as long as the military exists. Although it's hard to say goodbye and leave what seems like a huge part of your life behind and the start all over again, it's important to look at the positive side.

Moving all over the world broadens your horizons and opens your eyes to many experiences that you never even realized were possible. You meet so many interesting teachers, go to diverse schools, make all kinds of new friends and get to see all kinds of neat places. While I have spent my life leaving and then settling in all over again, it has been a good experience. Although I am like the plant having it's roots torn and placed in a new pot, I wouldn't want to relive my life any other way than how I have lived it.

Many lessons have been learned, and many friends have been made. "There are several things that are important to remember when moving around all the time. First, be open-minded and receptive of everyone and everything. Broaden your horizons. Never judge a place by the first several people you meet, give the place time and learn as much as you can about it.

Do explore the area you move to. Take a day to walk around and find out what your base, post, or station has to offer. Don't lock yourself up in your room and decided then and there to hate everything, not only will that make your experience a negative one, but you also might be missing out on activities that you could enjoy. The most important thing to remember is that there are people there who probably just moved to the area. Get to know these people. They are a great asset and they remind you that you are not alone in being new to the place.

The serve as excellent moral support and often become your closest friends (web)". Keeping a positive attitude is definitely the most important thing for any situation in life, especially moving. I remember each time I moved, saying how much I hated it there and how I missed my old home. This kind of attitude is normal for any military child, but it is one that quickly changes as soon as everything starts flowing again. I'm sure that this early-age experience will help me in the future when I am have to relocate with my job. Though the stages of the plant are hard, it takes a determined plant to be able to keep growing after it has had it roots ripped from the soil and replanted.

If the plant isn't, it will wither and die slowly. If the plant is determined, it will grow in the new, rich soil and grow out to be large and healthy. Through my life, I have had the times when I though I was going to wither and die after being transplanted, but I kept looking on the bright side of things, and I lived a pretty incredible childhood.