Personal Narrative: A Is For Arizona

California has always held a special place in my heart for many different reasons. I was born and raised in this state and although there has been many drawbacks to being Californian, it has always been a place of comfort for me. California has played a huge role when it comes to the person I am today and why I have such an open mind, love for different cultures, and my willingness to work hard for the so called “California Dream.”

“Do you like your job mom?” My son Matthew asks me casually looking up at me from his wooden desk chair. I’m working on cooking our family dinner and he’s currently working on a 10th grade essay, where he describes what he wants to become when he grows up. I always have thought that term “growing up” was funny, because through everything I certainly never have. I smiled down at him and answered “Yes, Matthew, I love it very much.” “Can I interview you about it please, it’s part of the assignment?” he replied. I nod and make my way over to the matching desk chair and sit down. “Just answer my questions about your job” He said. “Wait Matt, don’t you have to write this down?” “UGH mom this isn’t 2016, no one writes anymore. Gosh. My IPhone 17

I hope your Tuesday afternoon is going terrific. I am Miten Bhadania and I would like to formally introduce myself as your colleague working in the Tech department as Developer.

The birds, squirrels, and fishes living in tranquility. The daylight there is an early riser, while the night feels like a mother rocking her baby; peaceful. Therefore, the nights are so still that only the beautiful harmony of the crickets could be heard. The green tree looks so alive, they were standing large and stiff. There was even the opportunity of exploring the mountain trails. It was amazing being able to experience something completely different, especially when it was just a few days from starting my junior year. The memories from that trip will be unforgettable.

I am not from San Antonio. I am not from Texas. I’m from California. Where no one twangs, or drawls, or even says hi to the stranger standing in line at the grocery store. Texas, half way across the U.S and what seems like a whole other country compared to California. It is a completely different place that I could have ever imagined living and calling home. I came to Texas to find myself. I didn’t know that when I came here, but it is what ended up happening.

I hope you will remember when we met in California, I was visiting Becky Palacios in Glendale. I heard Jackie Porter is working at the Texas Education Agency, recently named the Early Childhood Executive Director. I applied at TEA, hoping for the manager's position in the Early Childhood Department. Jackie and I met while working at Pearson Publishers, with Gloria Horner, the Texas Manager, nevertheless, I don't think if it's appropriate for an applicant to communicate with her. Recently my husband, works for AARP in San Antonio, had a change in his job position, which means he might be working out of Austin again. If an occasion arises, you happen to see or talk to Jackie, I would appreciate a kind word regarding my interest.

In class we had learned about illegal immigration, though in a fairly detached way. This documentary was able to bring those studies and statistics to life. “The State of Arizona” follows the ongoing immigration situation in Arizona through the perspective of undocumented hispanics, those opposing illegal immigration, and legislators. While it was nice to have different points of view, it did still feel a bit biased towards the side advocating for a pathway to legalization. Nevertheless, it was very insightful and it heavily expanded my knowledge on the topic, specifically in Arizona.

I didn’t believe in aliens until I was abducted by them. I was put in some kind of contraption and I’m not sure what happened exactly, but it’s clear that I’m not where I was. Everything in 2016 is different, I don’t know if I’m in a different state or not but people are dressing differently and acting differently, and the cars, the cars are all different! I’ve been here for quite some time now and have noticed a lot of differences from where I lived in Oceanside, California in 1940. I’ve been transported to the year 2016 and there are so many things that have changed and evolved and among them are political, economic, social, and cultural changes.

So the officer said, ‘is there a reason you stole that candy bar, son? Did you not have enough money or something?’ I wailed, ‘yeah… I guess so. I don't know… maybe I was bored. I'm sorry. I don’t want to go to juvenile hall!’ The officer replied, ‘look, son, I'm not going to take you to juvenile hall; you're way too young for that. But what you did is against the law and you can’t come back into this store again.’ I said, ‘well, my friends were doing it and said it was easy. They weren't caught and I didn't think I’d get into all this trouble!’ Then he said, ‘Wait, other boys are stealing? Could you tell me their names and do they live around here?’ I asked, ‘can I get a free candy bar and a lawyer if I do?’ He coldly said, ‘No.’ I divulged, ‘Okay. Reza is the one I've known the longest and his friend Kyle stole too. They live in the same apartment complex as me.’ Yeah, I was a douche for

In 2011 on a very cold December night, my dad told me something that I will never forget. My siblings and I were all sitting in my fathers very out dated apartment, eating hamburger helper and watching a movie on his small 32 inch t.v.

Everyday gets harder and harder to survive. The storms are getting worse. They make my husband's farm all dry. It’s very hard to find food when we can’t grow our food either. The stock market just crashed a few years ago and everything is just getting worse. Everyone in our little town in Kansas is struggling it's not just our family. Last week the dust got so bad outside we were trapped inside our house for almost two days. The wind would be so strong and the heat would also be so bad it would burn our skin if we went outside. I know the whole town is struggling even though I haven’t been outside for a few weeks. We lost all our chickens from the wind. I wonder if anyone else has lost any of their animals too? If my family was strong enough

In 1978, when I was 14, my family moved from Phoenix, AZ to Cerritos, CA; a small city in the heart of the greater Los Angeles area. Phoenix was mainly White, Barry Goldwater conservatives trying their best to hold onto 1950’s Americana, but Los Angeles in the late 1970s was different; it was alive, vibrating to frequencies of the differing cultures that called the L.A. basin home. Looking back it still fills me with excitement, but truth be told I was scared to death. When I first arrived I had no friends, no experience to prepare me for the full on culture shock I found myself facing, nor any thought of how special that area would be to me. No other place than Southern California could have provided a better backdrop to develop the foundation

At the age of 5, I came to the United States from Mexico, and ever since society has shaped me to who I am today. Having been born in another country the major social problem or force that affected my life has been that I am an immigrant.

Once I was finished, I gathered up my cap and gown and my car keys and headed out the door. All the graduates had to meet in the high school library an hour before the ceremonies started, and I promised one of my best friends Tony that we would go together. I knocked on his back door and let myself in like I always do. All of his family members were running throughout the house trying to get ready. I asked his mom where Tony was and she proceeded to tell me that he was in the bathroom getting ready. I tapped on the door and walked in. He was standing in front of the mirror with his cap and gown on. He look me straight in the eyes and said,” Can you believe that we are about to graduate?”

I was an undergraduate student in Arkansas State University, AR, Jonesboro. We have finished our fall semester. The final exam was over and results were also published out. Every one of our class has passed in the exam. Mostly I used to hang out with my friends. They were the most important people as I was there as a international student. Getting chance to meet some people from your own country was a privilege to me itself. We were having a break time after the exam was accomplished .We have been practicing to visit lakes and some restaurant in the downtown area. Public transports were so poor and we have to walk to go to the university. It was the December 19, we were nine students from Nepal and we had planned to transfer to community college of