When you are getting prepared for a job interview, people will tell you to prepare an “elevator pitch”. This is a quick rundown of who you are, why you’re great, and why you would be the best for their company. You should be able to explain it in the time you are in the elevator with the CEO. Likewise, when you are creating a pitch for an idea to a company, they say to make it simple. Because if you can’t explain it simply, you don’t know your idea well enough yourself.
So this is my elevator pitch for my upcoming documentary. It matters because we matter.
The “we” I am referring to is our community of military brats. When I first created this blog, I had so much angst in pressing the publish button. I wondered if anyone really cared to read what I had to say or if it was even an interesting enough topic. But I ended up pressing “publish” because I knew that even if no one read it, at least I would be able to make a little better sense of my life and revisit the parts of it that were really cool… as well as the parts that weren’t.
One of the parts that really wasn’t cool was, ironically, the day my family was released back into the civilian world. You never realise how different your life is compared to others until you are thrust into an entirely different living situation you’ve only heard stories of.
My dad had served for 25 years. As is the risk for every commanding officer, something bad came up on base. After a drawn out battle, my dad ended up resigning. My parents had two weeks to relocate, no ceremony, no plaque, just a push out the door. I came home from college that summer and we were living with my grandparents. My parents were thrust into the civilian world, left to find jobs and a new home in just a matter of weeks. This was a tough time for us all. My mom and dad underwent stress like I have never seen before. And all I could do was be there. I felt pretty helpless.
A couple weeks after I moved back for the summer, I got an envelope in the mail. Inside was a certificate of appreciation from the US Air Force. The certificate looked like something I had received in middle school for participating in JV basketball. It was honestly a kick in the pants. When I really began thinking about it, the more angry I became. I spent 18 years moving, saying goodbye to friends, changing schools, worrying about my loved ones, unpacking box after box…. And all that deserves is a folded piece of paper with an electronic signature at the bottom?
After I cooled down, I realised the certificate is not at all what mattered. If anything, it was meant as a nice gesture. But I felt (and still feel) that there needs to be more recognition for what we, as military brats, do. We do not go on sixth-month deployments or wake up at 4 AM when a crisis happens on base—but we are the faces our parents look forward to seeing when they come home... (as long as our rooms are clean). We never asked to be brought into a life of constant change, goodbyes, hellos, new houses, boxes, worry—but we plaster smiles on our faces and learn to love it. And you better believe that that smiling face is what gets your mom or dad out of bed in the morning.
It is not easy to explain what life is like as a military brat, but we do have a remarkable story. My hope is that you and others out there will help me in telling that story. I am creating a documentary as my dissertation for my master’s degree about military brats. This preliminary video will be a shorter version of the full length documentary I hope to produce in coming years. I could use all the support I could get. My story is just one, but I want to hear yours. If you are a military brat and want to tell your story, contact me. If you want to give monetary support, I will post my GoFundMe link at the bottom (It will close 3/21). Most importantly, just spread the word. And as always, thank you for continuing to read!
GoFundMe Link: https://www.gofundme.com/military-brat-documentary
So this is my elevator pitch for my upcoming documentary. It matters because we matter.
The “we” I am referring to is our community of military brats. When I first created this blog, I had so much angst in pressing the publish button. I wondered if anyone really cared to read what I had to say or if it was even an interesting enough topic. But I ended up pressing “publish” because I knew that even if no one read it, at least I would be able to make a little better sense of my life and revisit the parts of it that were really cool… as well as the parts that weren’t.
One of the parts that really wasn’t cool was, ironically, the day my family was released back into the civilian world. You never realise how different your life is compared to others until you are thrust into an entirely different living situation you’ve only heard stories of.
My dad had served for 25 years. As is the risk for every commanding officer, something bad came up on base. After a drawn out battle, my dad ended up resigning. My parents had two weeks to relocate, no ceremony, no plaque, just a push out the door. I came home from college that summer and we were living with my grandparents. My parents were thrust into the civilian world, left to find jobs and a new home in just a matter of weeks. This was a tough time for us all. My mom and dad underwent stress like I have never seen before. And all I could do was be there. I felt pretty helpless.
A couple weeks after I moved back for the summer, I got an envelope in the mail. Inside was a certificate of appreciation from the US Air Force. The certificate looked like something I had received in middle school for participating in JV basketball. It was honestly a kick in the pants. When I really began thinking about it, the more angry I became. I spent 18 years moving, saying goodbye to friends, changing schools, worrying about my loved ones, unpacking box after box…. And all that deserves is a folded piece of paper with an electronic signature at the bottom?
After I cooled down, I realised the certificate is not at all what mattered. If anything, it was meant as a nice gesture. But I felt (and still feel) that there needs to be more recognition for what we, as military brats, do. We do not go on sixth-month deployments or wake up at 4 AM when a crisis happens on base—but we are the faces our parents look forward to seeing when they come home... (as long as our rooms are clean). We never asked to be brought into a life of constant change, goodbyes, hellos, new houses, boxes, worry—but we plaster smiles on our faces and learn to love it. And you better believe that that smiling face is what gets your mom or dad out of bed in the morning.
It is not easy to explain what life is like as a military brat, but we do have a remarkable story. My hope is that you and others out there will help me in telling that story. I am creating a documentary as my dissertation for my master’s degree about military brats. This preliminary video will be a shorter version of the full length documentary I hope to produce in coming years. I could use all the support I could get. My story is just one, but I want to hear yours. If you are a military brat and want to tell your story, contact me. If you want to give monetary support, I will post my GoFundMe link at the bottom (It will close 3/21). Most importantly, just spread the word. And as always, thank you for continuing to read!
GoFundMe Link: https://www.gofundme.com/military-brat-documentary