They all say home is where the heart is. But, the city is where mine is where mine resides.

Ever since I was young and naive, I have loved the city. I love how it seems like the people never sleep. I love how it seems like the lights never all go off at once. It is where I long to be.

Don’t get me wrong, I love it here in Michigan, but it hasn’t really felt like home. Many of the people who reside here have grown up here, they thrived throughout elementary school on up through high school with the same people and created groups. They think it is easy to be a new kid and make friends, but in reality, it is one of the hardest things to do here. To come into the system, not knowing a soul, and being expected to jump head first into the “cliques” of people; that is quite a lot to expect from a “new kid.” They are expected to tackle the new workload, new teachers, new school and new people all at once and it could put the mind and body on overdrive.

I know that when I went through this, I went into overdrive. I was expected by my family to fit in, like I did where I used to live, on day one. I was expected by the school to be passing all of my classes and mesh with my teachers perfectly. But at this time I began to dislike Forest Hills and love the city.

In the Forest Hills community, even though we dread saying it, we are very materialistic. In middle school it wasn’t as bad, but in high school it was a new game. We care about the clothes we wear. We care how we look. We care about where we live or how big the house is, and we care about what we drive. It is all about material things. This is what makes it all so hard. One thing that I love about the city is that it doesn’t matter what you are wearing, where you live, or what you drive, if you drive at all; everyone is your equal and you are not judged.

In my opinion, this is what needs to change: we need to stop being so materialistic and learn to see people as they are, not as what they wear or what they drive.

I understand that this is not a big city and that everyone has grown up together and created those life long bonds, but break out of the group and include others. Be different and take that chance. You don’t have to stick with those people for your entire life. This brings up another point about the city.

In the city, citizens have a multitude of people they see on the daily. They may see the man on the corner begging for money, that guy selling hot dogs in the park and the woman feeding the birds by the fountain. They see them every day and they may even converse with them, and become friends. All of these people taken their differences, put them aside, and come to find similarities in order to become friends.

These reasons I have explained above are the real justifications of why I love the city. The excitement, the people, and the differences and similarities they all share. It is where I plan to go after high school and attend college. I feel I belong; it is my safe haven. Although some may hate the crowds and how the people never sleep and how all of the lights never go off, I love it. It is where I belong and where I plan to be.