As the child of a parent enlisted in the military, I spent my childhood identifying as a ‘dependent.’ To the government, this defines you as a person who is reliant, both medically and financially, on whomever is the active duty or retired service member in your family. However, to me this single word has a multitude of definitions, most of all it means I was exposed to an incredibly complex and emotional world. A world in which the preservation of...

For the vast majority of my childhood, I have been raised solely by my mother. Having such a strong and independent role model in my life enabled me to be responsible and mature at a young age. My mother has raised a child, attended and graduated from college, and even maintained an incredibly stressful and demanding career without much help or support from anyone else, as my father was frequently absent and my step father spent many years deployed overseas....