Personal Narrative: My Journey To California

It was April of 1999. My family was at home. Children were running outside. The asphalt was burning. Cars rolled up to the entrance of the apartments and BANG. I grew up in Stockton, California. Surprisingly, as a minority, I wasn’t really a minority. There were, in fact, a large and diverse population of Asian-Americans. But, Stockton is not the ideal place to live. It was hot and dry, almost to the point of a drought. Stockton was also ranked as the one of the top 5 most dangerous cities in California. So, having a nice and safe family is kind of difficult. Eventually, my family decided to move to Crescent City, California when my dad retired. It was a world of difference. There were trees, plentiful water, and a nice cool temperature. This

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.

Hwy. 395, past a marker grandma green church of my childhood. Our post Ironman week was less than typical. Hence, we are home turning over flagging remnants of overgrown August herbs, a plethora of scarlet blistering shishito peppers, and multi colored bells, discovering another garden dinner in the doing. My mother often made stuffed bell peppers which began with blanched, whole peppers full of ground beef, bread crumbs, bacon, and raw Minute Rice which magically cooked the tiny white bits as they bathed in bubbling stewed tomatoes topped with American cheese. Sixty years later, my sister and I reminiscence about those delicious packages of meatloaf and buttery new

I don't remember how I met you in 1st grade, but I do remember when you used to be taller than me and had braces. I remember asking you what a period (menstrual) was, and the days when we talked about relationships—I mean we still do, haha. I remember going to the Sacramento field trip with you in 4th grade, when we carpooled to the airport at five in the morning and how you were there when I experienced my first time on a plane. I remember seeing Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows together and then getting In-N-Out afterwards. I remember when we both did Beginner and Advanced Strings in 5th grade. I remember having the same cabin as you at 6th grade camp. Going to the Big Bear trip with Ben, Bob and Josh last year and being there when I

Ever since I found out my softball team could make it to California for Nationals I knew this would be our goal for the summer. Now here is where the challenging part came in, we only had three chances to make it to California. We made it, we were lucky enough to make our goal in the third chance.

What is California besides a state? California is different for everyone it depends on who you ask. I have lived my whole life in Coalinga. Coalinga is where my California story began. This is where I got my ideas of what California truly means. California isn’t always going be driving on a smooth road there are times where you have to drive on either a bumpy road or a cracked road. Coalinga has taught me that being different is a good thing, but there are struggles along the way. That’s how life is; it’s not always a walk in the park instead it’s a burning house. Coalinga was my environment and still has a huge part of my story. It was one of the factors that molded me to who I am. In retrospect, many decisions were made to get to where I am today.

"Well, those residents were homes of the, you might say, the elite of Los Angles, movie people, politicians and the like... They would kind of like, well like yourself, they would rent these places as a kind of getaway... I guess over time for some reason or other, like I guess all things, they lost interest, and the houses just set there abandoned. That was a long time ago... But about 50 or so years back, the city of Fresno got a grant from the state for infrastructure.... Hired a lot of workers from all over, Fresno not being LA, they got permission to convert some of these big houses into rooms and apartments... Cut em' up and redesigned them... Some they left the way they were, I spect they let these out to the bosses and their families...

Waking up at midnight on a cloudy monday night, I walked outside and looked at the moon. Look at how far I have come. Living in hillbilly hick Iowa, to traveling all over the world. Listening to my mother has been one of the greatest things I have ever done. Without her I would have stayed in Iowa and probably married a ugly overweight farmer. Graduating from highschool I decided that I was going to go straight to college and get my masters in Biological Anthropology. Since I already had 20 credits completed at Iowa Central, I decided to stay for one more year. The money I would save would go into my traveling “fund”. Planning on living with my mother still, to me was not a bad decision. She fed me, clothed me, and loved me even though I can

It's been so incredible these last couple weeks seeing how God has provided even more of my tuition. It's encouraging to see the kind of support through prayer and finances that I will have while I am living in Los Angeles. I am psyched as I am only two days away from moving into my dorm at the Dream Center. Thursday the 8th of September my family and I will be driving down to LA and then Friday the 9th I will begin to move into my new home. I am so excited to unpack and create a cozy little dorm for my roommate and myself. Just a week or two ago found out who my roommate is going to be. His name is Alec and he lives in North Carolina. We have been in contact and we are both so excited to be rooming together. It is very interesting how God

My dad made awful jokes that somehow made us laugh, and we were always in a good mood. Another great memory we all made together was when we saw Arnold Schwarzenegger in our hotel. He was staying in the same hotel, and we saw him more than once during that week. We also found out Law and Order: SVU was filming there season premiere in a part of the hotel. California is definitely my family’s home away from home, and we experience so many great things when we visit there.

It was 17 August , this is the day that I leave from China to Arizona . Yesterday I just arrived Shanghai and stay in an airport hotel for relax a night with my friend . This day I went to the US. It was 1 pm to fly to America , so we had enough time to prepare what should we done before we went to the airport.

If I were to go on a road trip from Maine to California I would bring my grandpa with me. The reason being, as we drive across the country, he could provide me with the history of wherever it is we are driving through. My grandfather loves to share childhood stories about his growing up in the United States and his adventures traveling the country. He has really shared some great stories of driving from Louisiana back to his home state of New York. He has told me the crazy stories ranging from getting pulled over by the police to the scenery as he drove from state to state. Grandpa always loves to tell a good story, with his passion for history, his navigation experience and his positive outlook on life, there is no doubt in my mind he would

The last week of my life in california the state that i grew up in all my friend all my family stayed in california.The last week that i was there all my friends came to visit me and then we went to the movies.The last two days in california i spent with my family and my best friend.The last day in california was probably the worst day of my life having the thought of leaving my family and my friends to go live a new life in a different state without anything.The day i left was new year's day and instead of celebrating it with my family i was stuck in a car for 18 hours when i got to the apartment in washington i was sad and tried to forget by setting up my room.I think two days passed then I started to

My beautiful, I did some mixing and matching using your idea from Las Vegas and I came up with something that I think will work very nicely (thanks to my baby bear). If I rent a car and drive from Pocatello to Las Vegas it will cost me over 300 dls. for rental and gas and it is such a long trip. So, I found another flight on the arrival and departure dates leaving from SLC and arriving in Las Vegas for only $150. All together it would be around 400 dls. for the different flights. I'm sending you a copy of both Itenareries- 2 pages (SLC to Las Vegas, Las Vegas to Panama) and there would be a littl delay at the airport, but theh price of 400 is outstanding. So, check out the attachment and let me know what you think. I love you sooooooo much

As Robert Orben once said “ A vacation is having nothing to do and all day to do it”. Taking the vacation to Nevada was a great get away from school. Going back to visit the state I once lived in, brought back many amazing memories. First, being able to see the lights on the Las Vegas strip was mesmerizing. Also, hearing all the different sounds from different street performers was a lot different than the little town of Sebewaing. Lastly, Swimming in the heat of a Las Vegas winter was a lot of fun.