Welcome to Grant County... our little piece of heaven nestled in the mountains of West Virginia.…
In 2008 I moved to Bluffton to help start a new aluminum remelt facility called Alexin. I was one of three invited to make the move from western Kentucky by the presidents of Alexin because of my knowledge of the industry, my reputation as a hard worker, and my positive attitude. In the past nine years a lot has changed. Even though I know longer work in the aluminum industry, I still pride myself on my knowledge, reputation, and attitude. The job has changed, but what it takes to be successfully in any occupation has not.…
I am a godparent of an 8-year-old little girl. Before I moved to Houston our bond was tight and still is even though we are miles away. Every day we talk or Skype on the phone. When she has homework that she does not understand she will Skype me and we will do her homework together. Every summer for two weeks she comes to see me or I will go home to see her. As much as I can, I step in and provide when her mother needs help. As she gets older I am sure our connection will continue to grow.…
Before I moved to NC , I lived out west. The demographic and food delicacies are far different than here in the south. My taste aversion was fully loaded hot dog with chili and slaw. I never heard of that type of combination on a hot dog. I was raised eating a hot dog with just ketchup, mustard, relish and sometimes onions. I have lived in NC for about 23 years. I finally tried eating a hot dog Carolina style and love it. Since I have gluten allergy, I skip the bun and still eat it that way.…
One day I came home from school and saw a moving truck in front of my home. The first thing I did was find my parents to ask them if we were moving. They both said yes, all of us are moving to Fresno California. I was afraid because I had lived in Modesto my entire life and was very comfortable here. I knew my way around Modesto and especially my school where I had many friends and knew the teachers well. Modesto, after all, is my hometown and now I'm transferring to a foreign place. When all of us arrived in Fresno we stayed there a couple of weeks and realized the house had a huge amount of issues such as with leaking water pipes, a broken heater and a variety of other problems. My dad said “Maybe we are not meant to live here”. Finally…
As a child I have always wanted to help other people.When I was 8 my parents decided to separate. At the time, my mother decided to move my sister and I away from Chicago. My mother packed our luggage and decided to move us to Detroit. That wasnt the only time we moved, we moved four times while I was growing up, all over the country and even to another continent. Eventually we had to leave our mom in Nigeria and my sister and I went to Detroit. When we got to Detroit my aunt didn't hesitate to make us feel comfortable. It was just something about it,I still didn't feel right. I called my mother one day crying to her and explaining how we didn't like being there. After talking to her, I felt that it was time to go back to Chicago. I called my dad, (knowing I haven’t spoke/seen him for many years) and explained to him the situation on how we felt uncomfortable in Detroit.…
In my experience, I don’t think I am reluctant to a specific identity. Houston is a very diverse city that people can find almost any type of music genre. In my community there are Hispanic and African American families. The music that is heard is of all kinds from “R&B, Pop music, Reggae, to Cumbia, Bachata and Regional Mexicano.” I have lived in the same community ever since I was born and in my opinion, I have grown up listening to the different types of music genres. This has shaped my identity to be open to different music genres and traditions.…
Growing up in Houston I could see a business man full of success and then I would move my eyes away from him, to see a homeless man barely making it by all on the same street. It is sad that in order to live you have to focus on gaining a green piece of paper.…
My grandfather had always told me to if you don't pray 3 times a day your relationship with god will not be good.…
Being born in Oregon, meant that I was surrounded by family. Both of my grandparents lived within an hour and a half from us and my cousins were only thirty minutes away. I went to a small church, which just so happened to be my school, and I lived in a small town. I had all of this until the fateful day when we moved to Texas.…
Thinking back on it now, Alaska was an important part of my life, having lived there for the majority of the time I’ve been alive. The small town of Eagle River was a great place to live, even if it gets very cold in the winter. Since I’ve lived there for so long, I learned how to make my way around from Point A to Point B without much hassle and figured out how easily friends can come if you try. Where I lived in a neighborhood that wasn’t too far away from a safeway, so I could walk there and do some errands for my folks, and maybe do some shopping for myself as well. There was a park just across the way, which is where I spent most of my days if I wasn’t being a lazy nerd at my computer. If the summer wasn’t rainy, it…
I am a Californian. I am a family member. I am a friend. I am a student. I am a book lover. I am a music lover. I am shy. I am a dreamer. I am ambitious. I am smart.…
Going to Southern California, no one would think of packing an umbrella. Why would they? California is in the middle of a drought. When someone thinks of California, they think of baby blue skies and palm trees along the streets. But, of course, the weekend my family decided to visit Disneyland, Universal Studios, and SeaWorld is the weekend Southern California experienced what the local news called a “tropical depression.”…
We finally moved to North Carolina and I was devastated. I felt like I had to leave behind all of the friends I had just started formulating deeper bonds with. I felt like I had to start over from scratch with making friends and I missed Khalif; and finding out that he contacted me the night before we moved and I missed his call, didn't make things any easier. I never told him I was moving when I found out. I figured since we wasn’t together anymore, why bother. He found out my last day of school because my best friend and I were crying, and another student went back and told him. He approached me before the day was over, and wanted to know why I didn’t tell him I was moving. After we talked, he gave me a hug. I didn’t expect him to try to contact me that night. I didn’t find out he had called until my family and I were well in NC and I checked the caller ID box.…
Good ole Los Angeles. I’ve been lucky enough to visit many cities around the world; Amsterdam, Rome, New York, even Mexico City, and its safe to say that there isn’t any other city in the world that has the robust mixture of urban concentration and suburban pride. Nowhere does this ring truer than in East Los Angeles. While some believe “east los” is nothing more than a breeding ground for failure, crime, and Hispanic illegal immigrants I believe it is much more than that. I believe the east side of los Angeles is a unique community with a vibrant history and culture that enlightens its residents and surrounding communities with a different perspective of the world, giving them an…