My name is Lauren Botwinik and I have been a military dependent all my life. At seventeen years old now I am wanted to pass on my knowledge and create a platform that empowered other military kids like me, in the hope that maybe they can learn from my mistakes or at least feel supported through this isolating journey. My own personal experience as the oldest of three sisters and as the current President of the Georgia National Guard Youth Council, I saw a lack of youth-lead information about deployment from a dependents perspective.
My Message
I hope everyone reading can understand that deployment includes the entire family behind every service member and it is a process that impacts dependents the most, since we have the least experience with adversity; however, that also means we have the greatest capacity for resilience and personal growth that can shape us for the rest of our lives given the right tools (access to information, technology, economic support, etc.) and environment (support system of other people, positive encouragement, patient learning environment).
OperationHomefront 