Friday, July 3, 2015

How Living In Suburbia Helped Me Discover My Passion

Chris Ferguson's Picture of me doing what I love doing (and posing)!!!

When I was 12, my mother and I moved into a nice 4-bedroom house in a quiet suburbia located in Virginia. My mom's dream of owning a house had come true. This was a vast improvement from the two bedroom apartment my mother, my three older siblings and I shared while I we lived in New York City. My siblings were at different points in their lives and did not move with us. Even at that age, I was aware that this opportunity was a chance to start a new life, a life like the tweens on disney channel who lived in the suburbs and seemingly had vibrant lives. What I didn't anticipate was how lonely our new home in the suburbs would be.

The drastic change in setting tortured me.

 Unlike the city. where I could go out, play and then come back to a busy home, the suburbs felt like a jail sentence.  I would go out to play but there would be nobody to play with. Everyone kept to themselves in the suburbs. At that age, I was often by myself, secluded and bored. The silence was defining in both the house and the neighborhood. Disney channel lied to me. 

School, however, was my heaven. At school, I had friends to talk to, people to hang out with, and I was busy! There was no time for loneliness! I felt, during this time in life, most comforted when I was surrounded by others.

Living in the suburbs helped me to discover my love for spending time with other people and building lasting relationships with them. Yes, I love reading anthropology books, I love eating, I love singing off key, and riding bikes but I love doing these things the most when I am doing them with other people.

So in choosing to be an anthropologist, a career that emphasizes building relationships and living among people with different lifestyles, I am able to do what I love doing the most:  spending time with others and building relationships with them!

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