TC, Texas, is a very academically competitive town. All kids are “pitted” against each other in order to individually soar in their academic career. My graduating class was 519—and all of us were playing as competitors since kindergarten. I don’t know why my town is so competitive. I’m both thankful for it and regretful.
I’m thankful because it has taught me what work and further education feels like. I know how to work under pressure and how to get things done quickly and efficiently. However, I do feel regret because some people have lost friends along the way. Being so competitive takes a toll.
With that being said, TC is still home. I like to drive around the town. I drive on the same few roads but every time I drive, I see something different. For example, I saw a raccoon once—and I drove down that road twenty minutes later and saw a mom and dad walking a stroller—no raccoon to be found in sight. I drive by my old schools to see what things have changed. They’ve renovated parts of my high school and elementary school.
Close to my elementary school is Turner soccer fields. At Turner, I learned to play soccer. I had soccer practices there twice a week and that’s where I made many friends. Across from Turner is Tc’s town park. This park has an amphitheater, basketball court, and playground. However, my sister, me , and our neighbors (we all went to school together) would go in the woods. We would jump over creeks, jump off of “cliffs,” (they’re grassy/muddy ledges ten feet in the air). We would find lost frisbees (this park has a lot of frisbee golf going on). If we weren’t at the park or Turner, we all hung out in front of Friend 1 and Friend 2’s house (they’re sisters). It was me, my sister (two years older), Friend 3 (three years older), Friend 2 (three years older), and Friend 1 (we’re the same age). We would take some bricks, line them up, and see who could walk on them—like a tightrope. We would play hide and seek. We had our own small table on their front porch, so we would all sit there with our thrift-store chairs and talk about anything in our lives.
My favorite part of growing up in TC was the friends I made and the diversity I was exposed to. My town was made up of many immigrants and children of immigrants. My high school was half white and the other half was a mix up of races and ethnicities. Which, in this part of Texas, is normal, but in smaller and more rural parts of Texas isn’t normal. I am very thankful to my parents that they decided to have me and my sister grow up in TC. I’ve learned many things about other cultures, I’ve made many friends, and I’ve lived like a kid—stay outside all day with no electronics holding us back.
