Reflective Essay: Moving To California

Those who know me personally, know that I wouldn’t be where I am right now without my parents. In order to give me the best opportunities, both my parents, born and raised in Vietnam, made many sacrifices, one of which included moving to the states. Larissa Martinez, McKinney Boyd High School’s 2016 Valedictorian, words, “while parents metaphorically move mountains for their children, you (her mom) literally moved countries for my sister and me,” have left a mark on me and although my story may not be to her extent, I can certainly say that my parents did the same.

The privilege to move to California has exposed me to many different cultures. This has allowed me to grow in many ways. The opportunity to listen and learn was there for the taking and I indulged. I now live in a neighborhood filled with people much different from myself My children's classrooms are filled with people from around the globe.  I also have a diverse group of friends that I very much enjoy and spend time with.

The feeling of fear excites me, an ecstasy of joy trickles into my veins. In a quick moment I make a choice and the adrenaline surges as I boost off a massive cliff, with a thud and a mushroom cloud of powder, snow drifts onto my face. With each line persuading me towards the life of a ski bum, living in a van, going from mountain to mountain, meeting new people and experiencing new thrills.

I was nine years old when I moved to California from Japan, all the way across the world. Moving to California was quite possibly the weirdest experience that has happened to me as a child. Trying to move from a place that I pretty much spent my life in than literally going across the world without knowing anything about it was very foreign to me, however my parents used to live in california for about one or two decades.

When George came home from work he told me that he had some really good news. Now, I don't know if I would call it good news, but he said that our family needs to move to Oregon. At first I was in such shock because Iowa is such a good place for our family, but a change is always good. The government is giving all males over the age of sixteen 640 acres of free farmland. That is more land then we have right now, and the land won’t be as crowded as the land here in Iowa.

Relocating from Florida back to Arizona was quite the journey. We went through terrible weather changes and and other dreadful like things on the trip. On the day we took off to board the greyhound we found out that the train had been experiencing some difficulties performing like the rest of them, but we had been told that the problems were fixed and that we shouldn't be worried. So we trusted in this man and what he had told us and i see now that was a big mistake, so we boarded the train took off our bags and we were all excited and could'nt wait to get back to see granny the rest of the family. Finally the train took off and the journey began I took a seat and felt relieved and calm but at the same time I felt uneasy and i just couldn't

At the age of ten years old, I had just moved to Arizona and didnt have any friends. I was scared in a new place and we had moved alot so didnt want to make friends if we were going to move again.

This is my story when I moved to colorado and when I moved again and what I felt when we moved and the second story Is when I moved to a different neighborhood and school so enjoy.

The best thing to ever happen to me was when my parents forced me to join the Loon Mountain X Team. I was an adolescent 8th grader living in the cozy coastal town of Cohasset Massachusetts, knowing that my time in New England, which began when I was three, would soon come to an end as a daunting move to Texas loomed overhead. I knew I wanted to make the most of my 8th grade year, but as the dead leaves dropped from the trees, the idea of my faraway move to Texas ripping me from my home, family, and friends whom I’ve known for the past ten years of my life, sent me into a depression during that fall. However, I still had something to look forward to, skiing. I had been skiing on and off since I was five, and for the past two years, my family

“We are moving to Arizona. It’s your decision whether or not you come with us.” As a seven year, old girl, this was one of the hardest things to hear from the woman I was supposed to trust most, my mom. I had to make a decision whether or not to move across the country with my mom and a stranger, or move in with my dad and stay near my family. I immediately responded with “I will be staying in Massachusetts”. Although I knew that this decision would flip my world upside down, I didn’t know how much I would personally change because of it. In that moment, I didn’t know that I wouldn’t be seeing my mom for another year. I didn’t know that our relationship would never be the same again. That one sentence changed the whole course of my life. In that split-second decision, I went from a seven-year-old little girl, blind to the reality of life, into a mature young girl forced to swallow the idea of her mother leaving her behind.

Have you ever had everything you’ve ever known, stripped away from like it had never even mattered. The things you most loved and cherished, such as friends and family, taken away. Have you ever had to leave the only place you’ve ever known, as well as the people who lived there. I can honestly tell you I thought the world was ending when my parents announced that we would be leaving our quaint town in Arizona and moving to the big city. A few miles outside of Boston. The suburbs to be exact.

My Father is an Air Traffic Controller in the military and he had been given word that he had been given orders to move from Elmendorf AFB in Anchorage, Alaska to Eglin AFB in Niceville, Florida in two months. I remember when my parents told me that we were moving. I was sitting in the living room with my sister when my Dad and Mom came and joined us to break the news. Once they sat down I could tell something was wrong, I could feel my heart racing and the temperature rising. Once they said the words, “we are moving to Florida” I could feel my heart sink because that meant going to a new school, new friends and no more spending time with my family. Alaska was my home and I never thought we would leave. I was scared for what the future held, but I had no idea that it would make such an impact on my life and shape me into the person I am today.

My family and I have moved a total of seven times. Big number, I know. With moving came a lot of hectic airplane rides, destroyed friendships, and well, meeting new individuals. The main reason for my family moving each time was my dad, who is a computer engineer. Because he’s an excellent computer engineer, he always got promoted; he was an expert at his job. Whether it was for, a new company or position, it wouldn’t matter because my family always followed him.

A white bunny bounced and pranced along the grass of the warm meadow the sky was a yellow orange color. I pressed my nose on the glass of the backseat in my dad’s truck.

Moving from New York to California , I was exposed to more education opportunities. During my junior year of highschool I started taking college classes after school at the local community college. My counselor told me about this opportunity because moving from New York i had already met all the requirements to graduate. This, I felt was a big accomplishment because I had never taken such rigorous classes before and never after school. I took one college class before during the summer so i had no worries of trying to keep up with my high school work without falling behind on my college class either.