Personal Narrative: A Story That Changed My Life In El Paso

As a Texas-born, Texas-raised, small town girl, I lack the words to explain what role my hometown and the state of Texas has played in creating the person I am today. I will say, though, that I have all intentions of paying it giving back to my community by furthering Texas scientifically and medically through research, and caretaking for Texans as soon as I have the chance, starting at Texas A&M University this fall.

When ever you’re traveling, you dont really have an adventure if you dont try new things and go to new places then youre not having an adventure. I am going to share some of my favorite activities that I have tried when I went traveling

Growing up in the Rio Grande Valley was an experience like no other. The RGV is full of Tex-Mex, laughs, and the most random things you can think of. Despite all its quirks it’s a beautiful place to live in, and it’s home to me.

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.

San Luis, Colorado is the oldest town in Colorado. The Rio Culebra winds through the valley, surrounded by majestic mountains. It is one of the most beautiful scenes I have ever seen. My family along with many others have been here for generations. The beauty of the land is only accentuated by the beauty of our tight-knit families and culture. To counteract of all the physical and cultural beauty, there is social and economic strife everywhere around me. I live in the poorest county in Colorado and being impoverished is a challenge my community faces because of a lack of education and job deficit. As I have delved into community and family history, I have better understanding that the fact the that while many things like our support and love for family and culture have remain unchanged and untainted, so has the fact that our community struggles

I grew up in a city named Colorado City, TX – the city is located in Central West Texas. I had a really good friend, that I became best friends with, named Daniel. We went riding our bikes everywhere around this little town, scraping our knees on concrete and crashing our bikes on practically everything (since there was practically nothing to do in this town – this was before the 3M Palace Theatre was reopened).

My mind will often wander to all the places I've lived in and all those I would love to travel to, or visit again. I think of the streets of Santa Fe, how fresh it would be compared to the over 100 degree temperature of were I am now, the hot dry heat of El Paso, Texas, a place I often come back to, the soil were my roots are permanently ingrained. El Paso has grown significantly in the past 10 years alone and is now the sixth most populous city in Texas (World Population Reviw). It's far from it's days when it was widely known as “El Chuco,” or “ChucoTown,” nicknames whose origins and meaning have long been debated, but no matter how much of the new generation is unfamiliar with these terms the history lives on through the streets and current

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 was born in El Paso, Texas to Mexican immigrant parents who did their best to raise me and my three siblings. Growing up in El Paso I never even saw myself applying to college, but then my dad made a bold choice to start a career in homeland security and that was when we moved to the DFW area. Ever since we moved to DFW every grade in junior high, i was talked to about college: how to get there, how to pay for it, and how to make it a reality. The thought of going to college never even crossed my mind before coming here. Now as a Senior in high school I'am doing everything in my abilities to make my dreams come true, to go to college and graduate to make my parents proud and prove to them that all their sacrifices haven't gone by without

I don’t remember much, I just remember not wanting to leave. The place I would be spending the rest of my life I had only visited a few times. I, only being two at the time, was absolutely terrified of moving. Moving. It seemed like the worst possible thing that could’ve happened then. At first, when we left, it felt the same as the last time I had gone there. Then the realization that I would be gone forever kicked in, and the fact that this time, my dad wasn’t coming with us. Just my mom and I.

Longview, Texas is a unique hometown for many reasons. First of all because, more than likely, any given person who attends Texas A&M and did not play football in high school has never heard of it. When meeting new people in college, I’m always asked where I’m from and 90% of the time the response I hear is “Oh I’ve never heard of that”, 9.5% of the time I hear “Is that kinda by Houston?” (a question that, after hearing for several semesters, I’ll just respond yes), and finally .5% of people I meet know where Longview actually is. Living in a small town—not in the suburbs to any city—offered a unique perspective on life going into college. There are 4 high schools in town. The largest, Longview High, was an athletic and academic powerhouse: always going to state

Our yearly pilgrimage to our deer lease in Menard, Texas starts every year on the first Friday in November. To get there we head four hours north thru the sprawling metropolis of San Antonio, full of its traffic and impatient drivers. Upon leaving the city limits of San Antonio, we head west towards Kerrville and the landscape starts to change drastically. No longer are we driving on flat land but now the car is climbing small hills and the road winds. We drive in this direction until we reach the vast acres of ranch land located on a lonely farm road between the small cities of Junction and Menard. If you drive too fast down the winding road, you will miss the old metal gate that is almost hidden by brush trees. My husband is the hunter, yet I love to come with him, because this is the place, where I disconnect from the fast paced life of city dwelling and feel reconnected once again to nature and I find peace and rest here in this cactus and dirt oasis.

It was mid-winter of 1848, I was doing my daily chores when my neighbor brought news that two days earlier, on January 24, James W. Marshall made a discovery of gold on his piece of land in California. At first, I didn’t think that this would affect me in any way, but then I realized I could start a new life in California filled with gold and fortune, away from my small farm in Missouri. I decided to pack up my things and start on my long journey to California, I packed enough food, water, and supplies to last me a few months. The next morning I was surprised to see that not many others from my town were seeking gold, I knew it was unsafe for me to travel alone, but I was sure I’d meet others along the way.

At some point of our lives, we have all felt that feeling of what to do next, and mine would have to be the time I had to move from different cities. I was born and raised in McAllen, Texas. Throughout the years I was able to create and cherish many memories. Everyone around the neighborhood knew me as the shy, sweet, and kind Emily. My life was made in the valley until I got the announcement from my parents that we were moving to a new city named “Laredo.” At that moment my world had paused, so many questions were running through my head. What am I going to do? Where will I live? , and how will I adapt to this new town? So many mixed emotions were created, but I tried to hide them.

My family story is not about someone who is blood-related, but rather a family friend of my great grandmother. Her name is Eva Mozes Kor, a twin of her sister Miriam, born in nineteen thirty-four. They were born into a family of three other children. They resided a tiny town in Transylvania, Romania. In May of nineteen forty-four, Eva and her family arrived by train car at the concentration camp, Auschwitz. They got down from the train car, where people were chosen to live or die. People were crying, pushing, and shoving each other. Dogs were barking, everyone was trying to make sense of the place. Eva turned around while trying to identify where the Nazis had taken her and her family. She had never seen or even heard of a place like this. When she turned around, she realized that her father and her two older sisters were gone and she never saw them again. She and her twin sister Miriam were holding onto their mother for dear life. A Nazi was running in the middle of that selection platform, yelling at the other Nazis, “Twins, twins.” while pointing at Eva and her sister. Another nazi then noticed them and commanded to know if Eva and Miriam were twins. Her mother then asked “Is that good?” and the Nazi responded “yes.” Then her mother said, “yes they are twins.” At that moment, another nazi came, pulled her mother to the right and pulled her and her sister the other way, they were crying as they watched their mother sobbing while being pulled away from them. All Eva can