Learn to Accept Change, Not Resist It by Kyla

Learn to Accept Change, Not Resist It by Kyla - April 2021 Scholarship Essay

Less than a month away from my eighteenth birthday, the past five years really did fly right by. As a military child, I had grown accustomed to living away from the United States and at thirteen years old I had spent most of my developmental life in Naples, Italy. Little did I know that I would soon be moving again across the world to Okinawa, Japan. I had felt so disheartened that we were not going back to the United States and felt all hope for a normal teenage life had evaporated. Given what I know now, the advice I would have given my thirteen year old self is to not be so opposed to change because things do not always work out how you picture they might.

I spent a lot of the past five years resenting the new location I lived in because I resented the change. I did not like the process of making new friends nor getting used to a totally new environment. I was, and still am a shier person and getting used to drastic change like that was very hard for me then. Living in a military community, people moved constantly, and the few friends I did make tended to move away a year or so later. I felt as though I was stuck in a rut: a hole that grew deeper and deeper the more time I spent in this unknown land.

Eventually, I grew to accept the change and made an effort to engage within the community. I joined the Christian Youth program on the base, and through this program, met many like-minded individuals with similar worries and interests, as well as supportive and admirable adults. Engaging in this part of the community inspired me to try and be more open in my daily life, and I became more open at school with peers and at home with my family. After almost 3 years of dismissing my new surroundings and situation, I had finally found happiness in where I was physically and emotionally. However, this blissful feeling came three years too late: about a year later, I was required to move again as my parents received another job offer in another part of Japan.

The moral of this story: If I had grown to accept the change happening all around me, and adapt to my situation much sooner than I did, I would have found contentment within myself and learn to live life in the moment instead of in what could have been. Even now I still struggle occasionally to not cloud my head of thoughts of potential realities but rather how I can make use with the resources, time and situation I’ve been given. Acceptance of yourself, where you are in life, and especially change are all required to progress positively and grow mentally. After fighting to defy change for so long, I cannot stress this enough.