Every year, April is known as the month of the military child. A ceremony was held in Washington, D.C. on April 11 to recognize seven military children who have made a difference in not only their lives, but the lives of others. The event was organized by Operation Homefront, a nonprofit that has been supporting military families since 2002.
Among the recipients were two local San Diegans, 18-year-old Lindsay Carstairs and 17-year-old Isabella Arrieta. Carstairs was diagnosed with a rare form of epilepsy, known as Jeavons syndrome, at 8-years-old.
Lindsay Carstairs
"It was a struggle. I was — especially so young. Epilepsy is — it's a very common thing, 10% of the population does have epilepsy but it didn't stop me from feeling alone in the situation," said Carstairs, who is the daughter of two accomplished Navy veterans.
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That struggle is what lead her to co-founding a local International Children's Advisory Network (iCAN) chapter at Rady Children's Hospital. The goal is to support and help fundraise for children with similar diagnoses.
"The reason we created it was to make sure that people didn't feel alone in the situation they were going through. To make sure that they had a voice," said Carstairs.
During her time in high school, Carstairs has kickstarted countless advocacy discussions and has raised thousands of dollars for children with similar conditions to hers. She also received the President's Gold Volunteer Service Award after volunteering 300 hours.
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Carstairs, who graduated from Canyon Crest High School, told NBC 7 that she has her sights set on a goal in diplomacy, and potentially wants to be a diplomat working with the U.S. State Department. She plans to attend her dream school at Tulane University in New Orleans in August.
Isabella Arrieta
Arrieta knew from a very young age that she wanted to be a lawyer, citing her passion for true crime documentaries and related media. She is the daughter of a Gunnery Sergeant in the U.S. Marine Corps. As a student at Chaparral High School in Temecula, she's on the school's Mock Trial team. She also volunteers with a local peer court program where she gets hands-on experience with the U.S. judicial system.
"I was shadowing some attorneys, and I got to meet a lot of people, defendants included. And I realized that not everyone who commits a crime is this bad person. As a lot of media portrays it, right? Most of those people are just people who need help," said Arrieta.
Arrieta, an honor student and captain of the varsity cross country team, plans to do her undergrad at UCLA. Her end goal is to be a criminal defense attorney.
As part of the award, Arrieta and Carstairs received a $10,000 grant. Arrieta said she plans to put all of that money toward her education.
Operation Homefront's Military Child of the Year program is now in its 16th year. It recognizes exceptional teenagers in each brand of the armed forces facing challenges unique to military families.
