I was born in California but was raised in a little city called Yuma in the state of Arizona. I'm nineteen now so basically i've lived there my whole life. No one in California really knows where Yuma is and I do not blame them. Yuma is surrounded by desert and three hours from Phoenix, Arizona. Yuma has the Colorado River and the dunes on its south side and Mexico on its southwest side. This little city is less than seventy-eight thousand acres long. It has desert throughout and only a few cacti surviving its heat. Summers with 120 degree weather. More than eighty-five thousand retirees make it their winter residence because of how warm it is. These people, known as snow-birds make more than half of the population which is only ninety-five thousand. To have a comparison in populations San Diego itself has around 1.4 million as a population. There is literally nothing to do other than stay inside all day and be grateful that air conditioning exists.

Why Yuma?

Colorado River Bridge

c1.staticflickr.com

My parents thought it was nice to raise my sister and I there. They weren't wrong in that aspect but I got over it really quick. My dad had his own business at the time and also used to have a traveling soccer club with 5 different age group teams and my mom is a homemaker. I was raised in a Catholic environment and attended a small Catholic high school as well to get a good education.

Everything was small and everyone knew each other in this little city, obviously I felt a little ignorant of the world and sometimes I felt trapped. When I noticed this, I hated it and wanted to leave and knew that my life was not meant to continue in the state of Arizona. I have my beliefs but sometimes one needs to get away from their comfort zone and grow as an individual. Thanks to my family and blessings, this is exactly what I was able to do.