ELFRIDA, ELOY, Endorphin

Where can you go where the sun rises early in the morning and doesn't set until 7 or 8 o'clock at night? Arizona is the one place that when the sun rises and comes shining through your window, you are refreshed, and when it sets it has the ability to calm you. Arizona is my home. Moving all over the country, I have seen many places; but none of the places that I have been has ever made me truly feel at ease.

Louisiana is southern comfort, where everything moves at a slow pace. Nevada moves at such a rapid pace that you wonder if it will out run itself. Connecticut is a place of high expectations, great education, and even greater trees. Pennsylvania is where great hills, valleys, trees, and city smells grow. Vermont is where snow and great syrup were born. Virginia with its crisp sea air. However, none of these places can match what Arizona has to offer, and what it has given me.

I moved to Arizona ten months ago and have attended school online through Rio Salado. I have also been attending school at Glendale Community College where in 3 months and 5 days I will graduate with my Associates in the Arts. At which point, I will be attending the University of Arizona. I never thought that I would actually finish my schooling, it has taken me so long already that I began to wonder if I really was getting anywhere.

My father remarried over a year ago to a woman who has lived inn Arizona since 1998. I can't just describe my own town, because I feel as though Arizona is my own little town. I live in Peoria, the town is nice, and although I wish I didn't live in one of these fabricated houses. Everyday on my way to school I drive past the older homes of Peoria and I imagine me living in one of those. It's nice to see that even though there is so much construction going on around me that there is still enough space for small farms to stay around. I spend a lot of my time in Glendale, which I enjoy the most. My school is so well landscaped that I find myself walking around for no reason. Every once in awhile I put my school bags in my car, and I just start walking. My stroll usually carries me through Sahuaro Park (which happens to be right next to my school), after walking through the park being chased by the Peacocks who think I'm going to steal their babies. If I'm feeling really energetic I keep walking and make my way to the dog park, and I watch the dogs play. Sometimes it just happens that a whole afternoon can pass by under the trees.

I love Arizona; I have met so many great people in my short time here. It's a comfort to know that Arizona can be small (depending on where you are), and it can be large; but one thing is for sure, whether it's big or small you always know that there are possibilities. That is why I have chosen to stay in Arizona. The new section in my family is all University of Arizona graduates, and I have heard nothing but high praise about Tucson, while I've only visited there once, I am still excited to see the cactus that has been struck by lightening.