Personal Narrative: Moving Away To Illinois

Moving from the South to the Midwest was a huge change in my life. For my whole life I grew up to the southern hospitality and the tang of salt in the air since the beach was always less than 5 minutes away wherever I lived. Now I moved to a place where they flip you off to say hi, and the closest thing to an ocean is a sea of grass that seems to go on forever. Although I am now adapted to the change for the most part, it took me awhile to break in to the social norms of an average Midwest kids.

Leaving my home in Hawaii and moving to Oregon was one of the hardest things for me to do. Maybe I would have felt better about it if my parents had asked me for my opinion before picking up our lives and moving to some place I had never even heard of before. I know I shouldn’t have cared that much. After all, I was only a 1st grader and even now my parents don’t consider how I’d feel before making decisions, so why would they then? At the end of 2007, I said goodbye to my best friends for the last time and left for Oregon.

grew up in Chicago, Illinois, a beautiful city surrounded by violence and controversy by the media. I found things more simple when I was kid growing up here, there wasn't much to worry about but as I got older things became more complex here. The sounds of the " L "' or as you know it as, The Train, and the roaring sounds of cars passing by my house made me feel alive while growing up and as a matter of fact still does. You could wake up in the morning and see the vibrant blue skies being pierced by the skyscrapers and see other kids playing ball or riding their bikes. When it was summer time I would play ins sprinklers or go downtown and play in the fountains with my family. Of course, like most big cities I had to watch my back while growing up because you never knew what somebody was up to. It's weird really growing up here because you never know what's going to happen next , wether it's a good thing or a bad thing. All I can really say about growing up in Chicago is that if I had the chance to redo it, I'd do if a million times.

Just recently, I found out I was moving to another state. Knowing I have to leave everything behind was awful. I was halfway through eighth grade, starting the second semester, and I was doing great. My grades were all A’s and I was happy there with all my friends, Amber, Marianna, and Makayla. Our house was decent, my sister and I both had our own rooms anything I would ever wish for. My dad had been promoted to another job, where he was going to get paid more than what he was currently earning. It was an amazing opportunity for my family. I was glad for my dad, but I still felt bad for myself.

When humans reflect on their lives they often categorize things by their location at the time of the event, grouping their college experience separately from their hometown high school experiences. This association with place causes us to view an unwanted movement as an attack on our personal way of living. I first experienced such an affront when I was in the first grade, my family and I moved to a small town about three hours away from San Angelo. My father wanted to be closer to his aunt and uncle so he seemingly forced me and to tag along for the experience. I didn’t want to move away from my grandparents or my friends, the thought alone would cause me to cry. I had to leave behind all my friends, my family I

4,097 people. That was the population of Centralia Missouri in 2011. Moving had never been an issue for me, when your dad is in the military you get used to it. This time it was different than any other time. My parents were divorcing and my mom was forcing me to move to a town with only 4,097 people opposed to my home in Virginia with 225,401 people.

Since I moved to Waukesha when I was just five years old, I have learned to appreciate and get involved in several ways around this city. Recently, however, I got accepted to my dream school; UW-Madison. I was ecstatic to finally have the opportunity to leave the town I had spent almost all of my life in and start a new chapter somewhere else.

It was pouring rain the day I moved to Tennessee, which reflected exactly how I felt on the inside. One week before my Junior year of high school, my parents decided to relocate the family six hours away from where I’d lived my entire life—a decision that was not supported by all those involved.

Me and my family moved to Wisconsin when I was nine years old since I was so young at the time I really didn't understand what the purpose of moving from California to Wisconsin was. It wasn't until later on when I was around the age of 12 that I found out that we moved here because financially it was more reasonable. Moving here allowed my mother to become a homeowner, something she wouldn’t have been able to do in California because of the high prices. I guess you can say that at the age of nine I really didn’t have a purpose to move here apart from the fact that my mom was moving. However, over the years I realized that moving to Wisconsin was the right thing to do.

Started off with me having to move back to Indiana. First, my mom was nowhere to be found, so I wasn’t able to say good bye and that I loved her. I really wanted to be able to hug her one last time. She did the same thing when I was a kid. It made me feel unwanted all over again, so I got on the bus with nothing but 3 bags and no money.

On a brisk Friday in November, I, along with my boyfriend, his mother, and their pet pomeranian, were settled in the back of a 2014 Chevy Malibu and prepared to depart for his brother’s abode in southern Illinois. Despite residing in the state alongside it, I was completely unfamiliar with Illinois and looking forward to seeing how the land might contrast from what I was familiar with. I had mentally depicted bustling cities and a nonexistent rural atmosphere, but was taken aback when the “Welcome to Illinois” sign passed us by in a flash and nothing but miles of uninhabited land followed it.

When I decided to attend a state school in Massachusetts, people often asked me why since I could have received the same education from my beautiful home

I grew up in Illinois and lived there my whole, thirteen years. My family and I recently moved here to Cleveland because of my brother. He has a very rare digestive disorder that I can’t even remember the name of. We moved here so we could be closer to his hospital. It was always hard driving him two and a half hours to the hospital when we lived in Illinois, but now we only have to drive half and hour.

“Home is a place you grow up wanting to leave, and grow old wanting to get back to.” ~John Ed Pearce. With opportunity at every corner of the country It’s difficult to decide where to go after I graduate from Streator High School. However when I consider the family and friends I would leave behind, I think that staying is the best choice. Illinois is and will always be my home.

Change can always be a good thing in life. From when I was born and throughout Second Grade I was living in Chicago with my Mom. My family and friends either lived in Chicago or neighboring towns. I was a really enthusiastic person according to both my parents and I was never sorrowful and I always had a large grin on my face.