The Bay

After my fourth grade year at Bright, my mom announced that she would be taking my brother and I with her to Tampa, FL to live with her new boyfriend. I remember my brother and I being devastated to leave Chicago, jealous that my other siblings got to stay, and nervous to start my life somewhere new. The first thing that I noticed when I arrived at my new home was that it was in a gated community filled with townhouses. I saw so much diversity and was excited to live a better lifestyle. I loved that I was in a community with so many people who looked like me. My most memorable experience of Florida was the education I got there. I went to an elementary school called Clark Academy which ran kindergarten-5th grade, while my brother attended Benito Middle School, which ran 6th-8th grade. Since I was in 5th grade in and he was two grades above me, we always attended school together until this point. My first day at Clark was the first time I saw so many white people. I was shocked, amazed, curious, and angry, all at the same time. I remember not knowing how to act and trying to replicate the way I heard white people talked on TV. Clark had things that just astounded me. A library, clean bathrooms, a health center, track team, you name it! I didn't know how far behind I was in the classroom until I got to  Clark. To say I struggled at the beginning was an understatement. That was the first time I realized how privileged kids were in some schools while others were struggling. I didn't make the connection between education and race until much later in life.