The essay that brought back the Blogger...
The essay that brought back the Blogger...
My Great Escape to Nowhere
“We’re moving.”
Those two simple words changed my life forever.
How could my parents do this to me? How could they just decide to move without consulting my brother or me? Everything I knew was in Pomona, California. I was just getting my life together. Granted, I was only four years old at the time, so what kind of life could I have had at that young age? But where was my say in all of this relocating? And where the hell was this town called South El Monte, anyways?
Before I continue about my great move to a town that probably nobody could pinpoint on a map, let me give some background information about myself. I was born in San Antonio, Texas. I lived there for the first four years of my life. My parents decided to divorce due to irreconcilable differences. Under the custody of my mother, my brother and I departed to California, where she met my step-father. He owned a business, a motel called Travelodge, in Pomona. I only lived there for a little more than a year, but Pomona was the place where I considered home. I had my own room, cousins, friends, a pool, and free color TV with cable in every room! Life was good, and now we were going to move to this unknown town called South El Monte. In other words to a four year old child; no TV with cable, no friends, no pool, and no cousins. A brand new start.
Moving day finally arrived, and I remember watching the hotel getting smaller as we drove further away until it disappeared from my sight, lowering itself below the pavement road horizon. I rolled down my window and inhaled my last El Pollo Loco scented, smog filled breath that I would ever have the pleasure of inhaling in Pomona. The Pomona I knew, the Pomona I grew up knowing.
Driving to South El Monte, I saw many big, nice houses. I was hoping we would stop in front of one of those houses, but every house I saw that I liked or wanted, we just drove right by it. One house, two house, red house, blue house, all of them not my future house. We were not even in South El Monte yet, and I was starting to believe that this town did not exist. We were on a never-ending road trip to a place that could have been a pigment of Dr. Seuss’s imagination. However, I finally saw the town that would be my future home. The roads were rough yet smooth at the same time, the buildings were bland, the people were ordinary, and the grass looked like a yellowish green, not dead, but not alive either. Everything in this town was plain. Nothing extraordinary about it, which can also describe the town itself. Nothing extraordinary. I inhaled a deep breath of South El Monte air. The scent reminded me of Pomona, Kentucky Fried Chicken and smog. This town could not even get the correct chicken place right! I was getting homesick, only to realize that this was my home now. The most distinct thing about this town was the taste of the air. Pomona’s taste was fresh, clean, pure, whereas the air in South El Monte tasted salty, as a sign of all the hard work that was used to create this featureless town. The laborers’ sweat blending together symbolizing that this town consisted of no individuals. This town was a group effort and everyone and everything in it has become one.
The same could be said about my house, a white house with a brown garage. It looked like everyone else’s in the neighborhood. It was, simply put, cozy. Everything seemed so peaceful and synchronized. It is like one of those movies that show everyone wearing the same outfit and mowing their lawn at the same time, in exact unison. There was a group a cholos, Hispanic gangsters, hanging out a block away, but other than that the town was full of sickening goodness. I unpacked my things into my new room and decided immediately that I wanted out. This was not the town for me, and I knew that I would find a town better suited for me. This became my secret mission, my secret obsession.
I never voiced my desire to get out of this town, but I never forgot about it as well. I always figured it would just happen. My brothers always threatened to leave once they were allowed to live on their own. “I’m going to move out once I turn 18,” they would always scream at my mom. They are now 21 and 20 respectively, and still living at home, milking the free rent, utilities, and food for all it is worth. I am 19 and I desperately want out, but it seems like I am unable to escape. What is wrong with this town? Why couldn’t I get away?
Everything about South El Monte was predictable. There was nothing new, no adventure, and no life. Since Kindergarten, everyone in your grade would know you regardless if they were in your class, and the majority of them lived no more than a block or two away. Everyone knew each other, some more than others. There were not many Asian children in the town, and with my social abilities and intelligence, I became one of the more popular kids. I began to accept this little town and the people in it. To be accepted in a small town and to be well-known made me put “my mission” to leave on hold until after high school.
Graduating from high school was one of my great accomplishments in my young life. I could not wait to get out of the high school that shared the same name as the town. I graduated with my friends, whom I grew up with, but I was still stuck at home, unable to say good riddance to this provincial town. However, even though I didn’t leave, I never looked back at that school, my past teachers, or my younger friends who were due to graduate in the upcoming year or two.
Although I spent most of my life trying to concoct a plan to flee from this basic town, I never noticed its fine qualities. Sure, the neighbors are not all gracious with each other and gossip spreads like wildfire on a hot, dry day, but living in this homely town gave me bonds and friendships that will last a lifetime.
After a year, I decided to visit South El Monte High School, just to see how everything was going. Once I stepped inside the gates of the school, I was being tackled by my friends who were still in high school. A reunion. They were screaming my name and rushing to give me hugs. It was as if I were a celebrity or the next American Idol. Old teachers greeted me, and some teachers who showed no compassion to me while I was a student were now treating me as if I used to be their favorite student. All that was missing was the red carpet and my own personal chauffer. I was so ready for my close up! It was refreshing to know that even though I left, I was still missed.
I always said that I wanted to get the hell out of this town from the moment I laid my eyes upon it. However, during a discussion I was having with a counselor, I was explaining to her that I wanted to teach high school level U.S. History. I had a plan and was describing it to her. I was going to get my Bachelor’s Degree and my teaching credentials. After I completed that, I wanted to arrange an appointment to talk with the principal of South El Monte High School, to find out if there were any teaching jobs available. Then it hit me. An epiphany. Without even realizing it, I was talking about teaching at the same school that I had received my education from, the same place that I despised and desperately wanted to leave. It turns out, I wanted to give back to my community, the same community which I took and took for so long. It was my turn to give something back.
Another example of how great this city is was when I recently visited the South El Monte Public Library to check out a book for a class. Keep in mind, I have not been to the library since I was at least 11 years old. As I walked through the door, I first recognized the librarians. They were the same bunch of lovely women who were there when I received my first library card as a young child. To my surprise, they still remember who I am. They had witnessed my transition from a mischievous kid to a well-developed college student. From the librarians to the old musky smell of the library, it is refreshing to see that some things still haven’t changed. As I reflect upon my parents’ decision now, I am glad that they chose to move us to South El Monte. This town has a lot more appeal to it than its plainness suggests. Maybe this town was not as bad as I had first perceived it to be.
South El Monte is really what you would call “home.” It has every aspect that a home consists of; a cozy environment, great company, and an extraordinary place to relax. Thinking back upon this close-knit town, it has impacted me more than I have known. It showed me qualities and values that I still carry with me until this very day. Everything that I complained about at first, are the things that I like so much about this town. They are the qualities that make this town a town. You get attached to it without even realizing it. Unlike, many other people, I didn’t have to leave in order for me to realize that I liked this average town. I realized I missed this town before I was even able to escape it. The grass that was once yellowish green is now the perfect shade that all other grass strives to be, those bland buildings have more life and color than any other buildings anywhere, and the salty tasting air has lost its saltiness. It seems to taste a lot sweeter now. I now see that this town’s air was not salty, but it was my own unwillingness to accept this welcoming town as my own that left a brackish taste in mouth.
“We’re moving.”
Those two simple words changed my life forever.
How could my parents do this to me? How could they just decide to move without consulting my brother or me? Everything I knew was in Pomona, California. I was just getting my life together. Granted, I was only four years old at the time, so what kind of life could I have had at that young age? But where was my say in all of this relocating? And where the hell was this town called South El Monte, anyways?
Before I continue about my great move to a town that probably nobody could pinpoint on a map, let me give some background information about myself. I was born in San Antonio, Texas. I lived there for the first four years of my life. My parents decided to divorce due to irreconcilable differences. Under the custody of my mother, my brother and I departed to California, where she met my step-father. He owned a business, a motel called Travelodge, in Pomona. I only lived there for a little more than a year, but Pomona was the place where I considered home. I had my own room, cousins, friends, a pool, and free color TV with cable in every room! Life was good, and now we were going to move to this unknown town called South El Monte. In other words to a four year old child; no TV with cable, no friends, no pool, and no cousins. A brand new start.
Moving day finally arrived, and I remember watching the hotel getting smaller as we drove further away until it disappeared from my sight, lowering itself below the pavement road horizon. I rolled down my window and inhaled my last El Pollo Loco scented, smog filled breath that I would ever have the pleasure of inhaling in Pomona. The Pomona I knew, the Pomona I grew up knowing.
Driving to South El Monte, I saw many big, nice houses. I was hoping we would stop in front of one of those houses, but every house I saw that I liked or wanted, we just drove right by it. One house, two house, red house, blue house, all of them not my future house. We were not even in South El Monte yet, and I was starting to believe that this town did not exist. We were on a never-ending road trip to a place that could have been a pigment of Dr. Seuss’s imagination. However, I finally saw the town that would be my future home. The roads were rough yet smooth at the same time, the buildings were bland, the people were ordinary, and the grass looked like a yellowish green, not dead, but not alive either. Everything in this town was plain. Nothing extraordinary about it, which can also describe the town itself. Nothing extraordinary. I inhaled a deep breath of South El Monte air. The scent reminded me of Pomona, Kentucky Fried Chicken and smog. This town could not even get the correct chicken place right! I was getting homesick, only to realize that this was my home now. The most distinct thing about this town was the taste of the air. Pomona’s taste was fresh, clean, pure, whereas the air in South El Monte tasted salty, as a sign of all the hard work that was used to create this featureless town. The laborers’ sweat blending together symbolizing that this town consisted of no individuals. This town was a group effort and everyone and everything in it has become one.
The same could be said about my house, a white house with a brown garage. It looked like everyone else’s in the neighborhood. It was, simply put, cozy. Everything seemed so peaceful and synchronized. It is like one of those movies that show everyone wearing the same outfit and mowing their lawn at the same time, in exact unison. There was a group a cholos, Hispanic gangsters, hanging out a block away, but other than that the town was full of sickening goodness. I unpacked my things into my new room and decided immediately that I wanted out. This was not the town for me, and I knew that I would find a town better suited for me. This became my secret mission, my secret obsession.
I never voiced my desire to get out of this town, but I never forgot about it as well. I always figured it would just happen. My brothers always threatened to leave once they were allowed to live on their own. “I’m going to move out once I turn 18,” they would always scream at my mom. They are now 21 and 20 respectively, and still living at home, milking the free rent, utilities, and food for all it is worth. I am 19 and I desperately want out, but it seems like I am unable to escape. What is wrong with this town? Why couldn’t I get away?
Everything about South El Monte was predictable. There was nothing new, no adventure, and no life. Since Kindergarten, everyone in your grade would know you regardless if they were in your class, and the majority of them lived no more than a block or two away. Everyone knew each other, some more than others. There were not many Asian children in the town, and with my social abilities and intelligence, I became one of the more popular kids. I began to accept this little town and the people in it. To be accepted in a small town and to be well-known made me put “my mission” to leave on hold until after high school.
Graduating from high school was one of my great accomplishments in my young life. I could not wait to get out of the high school that shared the same name as the town. I graduated with my friends, whom I grew up with, but I was still stuck at home, unable to say good riddance to this provincial town. However, even though I didn’t leave, I never looked back at that school, my past teachers, or my younger friends who were due to graduate in the upcoming year or two.
Although I spent most of my life trying to concoct a plan to flee from this basic town, I never noticed its fine qualities. Sure, the neighbors are not all gracious with each other and gossip spreads like wildfire on a hot, dry day, but living in this homely town gave me bonds and friendships that will last a lifetime.
After a year, I decided to visit South El Monte High School, just to see how everything was going. Once I stepped inside the gates of the school, I was being tackled by my friends who were still in high school. A reunion. They were screaming my name and rushing to give me hugs. It was as if I were a celebrity or the next American Idol. Old teachers greeted me, and some teachers who showed no compassion to me while I was a student were now treating me as if I used to be their favorite student. All that was missing was the red carpet and my own personal chauffer. I was so ready for my close up! It was refreshing to know that even though I left, I was still missed.
I always said that I wanted to get the hell out of this town from the moment I laid my eyes upon it. However, during a discussion I was having with a counselor, I was explaining to her that I wanted to teach high school level U.S. History. I had a plan and was describing it to her. I was going to get my Bachelor’s Degree and my teaching credentials. After I completed that, I wanted to arrange an appointment to talk with the principal of South El Monte High School, to find out if there were any teaching jobs available. Then it hit me. An epiphany. Without even realizing it, I was talking about teaching at the same school that I had received my education from, the same place that I despised and desperately wanted to leave. It turns out, I wanted to give back to my community, the same community which I took and took for so long. It was my turn to give something back.
Another example of how great this city is was when I recently visited the South El Monte Public Library to check out a book for a class. Keep in mind, I have not been to the library since I was at least 11 years old. As I walked through the door, I first recognized the librarians. They were the same bunch of lovely women who were there when I received my first library card as a young child. To my surprise, they still remember who I am. They had witnessed my transition from a mischievous kid to a well-developed college student. From the librarians to the old musky smell of the library, it is refreshing to see that some things still haven’t changed. As I reflect upon my parents’ decision now, I am glad that they chose to move us to South El Monte. This town has a lot more appeal to it than its plainness suggests. Maybe this town was not as bad as I had first perceived it to be.
South El Monte is really what you would call “home.” It has every aspect that a home consists of; a cozy environment, great company, and an extraordinary place to relax. Thinking back upon this close-knit town, it has impacted me more than I have known. It showed me qualities and values that I still carry with me until this very day. Everything that I complained about at first, are the things that I like so much about this town. They are the qualities that make this town a town. You get attached to it without even realizing it. Unlike, many other people, I didn’t have to leave in order for me to realize that I liked this average town. I realized I missed this town before I was even able to escape it. The grass that was once yellowish green is now the perfect shade that all other grass strives to be, those bland buildings have more life and color than any other buildings anywhere, and the salty tasting air has lost its saltiness. It seems to taste a lot sweeter now. I now see that this town’s air was not salty, but it was my own unwillingness to accept this welcoming town as my own that left a brackish taste in mouth.
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