Certain mottos stick with us from the moment we begin learning life skills. For me, one of the earliest was "be prepared," a principle I carried from my days as a Girl Scout into my military career. This motto emphasizes the importance of readiness and adaptability, key components of resilience.
As a military spouse, I frequently hear my family described as resilient, particularly when we are navigating a challenge in service to my partner’s military career. Sometimes I pause and take in the constellation of changes we are facing – frequent and prolonged periods apart, distance from our dearest friends and family, my own constantly changing career trajectory, racing the PCS clock to adopt our son before we land in a new state – and I can take in that we are making a happy life, with new perspectives, new friends, and meaningful experiences despite the upheaval.
At the beginning of my career as a mental health counselor, I worked primarily in school and community-based settings, focusing on the struggles and stressors experienced by military-connected students and their families. The work I did with young people was related to typical school-aged concerns, ranging from the mostly innocuous worries about an upcoming test or the severe struggles with bullying, suicidal thoughts and behaviors, and grief and loss. While working in the school system as a Military-Connected Student Support Specialist under a Department of Defense Educational Activities (DoDEA) grant, I had the opportunity to attend the Military Child Education Coalition (MCEC) Annual Conference for several years.