I didn't realize how different I was until I joined the military. I grew up thinking that it was normal to wake up on Saturday mornings at four am so that we can get groceries from the church. That we ate beans and rice for nearly every meal of the day. That some nights we would get a call from our family in Mexico or El Salvador about something terrible that had happened to one of my cousins. It wasn't until I talked to others outside of my city that I understood that I was alone in some of my experience compared to the new friends I made from Vermont, Michigan, Illinois and plenty of other states. Sure, they all had their own struggles, but rarely did I make a connection with someone else with how I grew up. When I was a kid, I was ashamed
