Personal Narrative Essay : My Dream City

Waving goodbye from the backseat of the car, as we pull out of my parent’s driveway. Looking out the window at the oddly, white shaped clouds. Thinking, I had never been away from my parents and my younger sister for so long, even though it was only for two weeks. I was excited and scared all at once, but I wasn’t too thrilled about the whole 29-hour drive there. Hoping that the trip would go well and nothing bad will happen to us.

In my early years, I hadn't given much thought to the depth of this city, only knowing bits and pieces of the puzzle that I was trying to put together in my head. However, as the years went by, I grew accustomed to the city, its people, and its ways. This city influenced and shaped my persona into the individual I am today. This city taught me a great deal of what

Ellis Island, which was an immigration station, opened in 1892. Ellis Island was a place where Immigrants from all over Southern and Eastern Europe, Greece, Serbia and Hungary to name a few came to have a chance at getting into America. Immigrants came to Ellis Island for many different reasons such as war, drought, famine, religion, and political and economic oppression. Although coming to Ellis Island was one step closer to freedom, the immigrants still had many more obstacles to face. The immigrants had to face numerous medical inspections, and also legal inspections to make sure they were fit to come to America.

Moving here from Los Angeles was one of the better things that’s happened to me in my life. I know, that’s a hard sentence to swallow even for me. Being on that plane, looking down at the city I called home for so long didn’t phase me one bit, nothing did. “Do you miss it?”, there was no real straight answer to that question nor will there ever be. I always answer “Yeah it's different here, but I mainly miss my friends”. Los Angeles always had a place in me, those breezy summer nights at the beach, the sunny days that never acknowledged winter was even a season and never needing to wear anything but a t-shirt and shorts. It’s not that I want to forget all about it or that I can’t. Los Angeles was always something more than just a city with

There has been many immigrants coming to the United States through Ellis Island. The immigration process takes a long time because of all of the steps that they have to go through.

Oakland, California, the city that people consider as one of the top five most dangerous cities in the United States. Growing up in the city next to it and having family there, I developed strong bonds to Oakland. I have always seen Oakland in the light for being outrageously diverse and being resilient. My first thoughts of Oakland never consisted of them of the city being dangerous or a bad place to live in. I knew that Oakland is dangerous but I have never experienced anything that made my outlook change. Despite a handful of my family living there and have experienced muggings, robbery and dealing of drugs, I still could not take in how unsafe Oakland is. However, just one incident changed my view of this city, 18 years of my life Oakland

A few hours earlier I had no idea what I was going to be doing with my afternoon. My family and I sat in the car talking, while my mom drove down the freeway. We started to drive into the city, big sky scrapers surrounded us. My mom exited the freeway and headed downtown. I’d only been in Chicago once before, and it had been for a short hour. We drove around until we found a parking garage. I hopped out of the car, stretching my legs. If you have ever been in an underground parking garage you know their cool and can smell pretty awful. Then we headed out to explore.

From January 1st, 1892- November 12th, 1954 it was common for immigrants to come into this country with relative ease, without having to spend months if not years trying to get the paperwork together to become a citizen. The point of entry was Ellis Island in New York. Upon arrival they were inspected for visible ailments and underwent a six second medical exam. If they were believed to be sick, they were marked with chalk and had to go through a more thorough medical exam. Once they were cleared and could go through processing they were asked questions that included their name, occupation, and the amount of money they were carrying. On average, from start to end, the process only took 3-4 hours. Only about 2% of people were denied entry in to America because of disease, criminal background, or insanity. About twelve-million immigrants came to the United States through Ellis Island in those 62 years. Famous passengers that processed through Ellis Island include Israel Isidor Baline (Irving Berlin) in 1893 from Belarus, Leslie Townes Hope

I was born on April 24, 1994, in Los Angeles, California to Patricia Andrade and Francisco Javier Garcia. My father was an immigrant from Mexico, and mother was Mexican-American born in South Los Angeles. I was the first born in my family. I grew up in the small city of Walnut Park. Walnut Park is located near South Gate and Huntington Park. The demographics of the city were and still are predominantly Hispanic/Latino. Many of the residents were newly emigrated from various parts of Latin American, mainly from Mexico. I was brought up Catholic, which was the dominate religion in the area. I was brought up talking English and Spanish. I grew up in an environment that was rich in Mexican heritage but lacked diversity.

The trip to the hotel room was about an eight-mile journey, which took almost two hours to complete. As I sat on an unfamiliar bus in a strange new city I began to

My move to NYC ended up being an abrupt push into adulthood that was more daunting than I expected. I found myself in a large,expensive city.Due to my family’s financial situation,all costs of living were on my shoulders, and I attended a university with a demanding course load. I found myself needing to learn to manage my time, make money, and navigate this foreign place. This led to a rocky start academically. Determined to succeed, I considered all my resources: college events, my advisor, and academic centers. I created an increasing trend in my GPA,and I took a major I was passionate about.I worked multiple jobs sometimes up to 30 hours a week, while still gaining unique life experiences. Although my path to this point may have been

The sounds of the city penetrated the walls of the cab as we drove through the streets of Manhattan. I could hardly wait to partake in the action that was happening outside. The buildings themselves were an amazing site to behold. The buildings took on personalities of their own. Each building was bigger and more graceful than the next. When lights were added to the mix it was a dazzling combination. The city itself felt like a great big hug, and I felt overwhelmed by its power. The city allowed me to become part of it just like many others many years ago who immigrated to this awesome city. As I was looking out of the cab I finally got to see in person the sight of all sights; Times Square. The main juncture of

Hello, Josh! I enjoyed your post and for the most part I agree with you. The image you posted is breathtaking and I do believe it to be art. However, I think I could take a beautiful picture of downtown Orange (in the right setting) and to me it could be art. Catching the beauty in something is what photographic art is. For people who have lived in Orange all their lives, it may cause them to reminisce of all the good times and bad times they have had in this city. Overall, I do believe a picture can not be completely mundane and count as art such as a picture of me in front of Walmart. Great post!

As we got inside a bus, I had a feeling it was going to take a long time to get there. As usual, I kept looking at the window beside me. I think we arrived a little late, so we were behind schedule. After, stepping out of the bus I was flabbergasted at how HUGE the campus was. I was excited to go or learn what things are inside the buildings and learn amazing things. As we entered inside the campus there was many

Looking around, I had seen diversity like I’d never seen before. I was in another world. Even though New York City can be a dangerous place, I felt comfortable there. My view of Kansas is now forever changed. On that trip, I found out what I wanted to do during my adult life.