I can’t live in San Diego right now, the greatest city I know.

San Diego to me is a place like no other, a place where I was born and found my best friends, a place that makes me smile when I think about it, a place where I found love, a place that not only encapsulates a physical utopia to me, but a place that houses the greatest people. The bipolar weather, the cliffs, the hidden gems, the places that when visited I’m not only attracted by the location but my memories in each. I run to Cabrillo, and I see Coronado on my left, the greenery that encompasses the strip of land that leads to our national monument. I see a little kid riding his bike to the monument with his friends and family, or the young teen driving down the empty dark road after receiving his license for his first time. I walk down Newport and stop to look at what used to be the Super Max liquor store on my left, our usual spot after a morning surf where we would grab the infamous Hostess cookies. I see the now-gone, Starbucks on the right where my mom and I protested against the opening. I see Hodad’s the symbolic and entrance to the OB culture. The eerie yet attractive Black store where as a kid I felt was a secret drug dispenser, where a group of secret words could get you whatever one needed(that actually might be true, who knows). Farther down Newport Avenue I see lighthouse ice cream, a place I visited as a kid and relied on my mom to pick a good ice cream since my eyes couldn’t reach the ice cream in the refrigerator. Later, as a teen I was the one ordering and choosing the ice cream for my date and I. I go down to the beach and I see “tower 2” the usual spot for my family and I as a kid. Then later it became the usual “hang out” spot for the high school teenagers. I make these connections whenever I visit my home.

“You love San Diego so much, just come back” I had a friend tell me once. When I referred to myself in the paragraph above I talked about the teen that visited these places later in life. I think of myself as a teen when I think about the time when I lived in San Diego, until the age of 21.

Leaving the comfort of my home, my best friends, my favorite places, surfing, financial freedom given to me partly from my parents, the English language, warm encounters with most people...I became sheltered from the difficulties that exist in most other places in the world.

Some people don’t need this push, but I did. And I think I still have room to grow. The heartache, oppression, pain, pressure, difficulty, is what helped me forge a mindset I wouldn’t have been able to obtain in San Diego. I don’t think the way I did when I lived in San Diego, different priorities, different ways to feel satisfied, I have achieved a way of thinking that transformed the way I see my place in society.

Now, I don’t want to sound like I’m putting down anyone that has never left their home, because I am not. Everyone achieves maturation in different ways, and this is and was my way.