My American Creed.

Los Ángeles

A big, wide, vast city with unlimited possibilities and great diversity. In kindergarten, I was one of five white kids in my class, excluding the teacher. I grew up in Westchester, ten minutes from LAX and in a second story apartment. My across the street neighbor, who was a flight attendant, would come over for tea parties I would host and my next door neighbors, Jing and Yu-Mei, would come over for dinner every weekend. I didn’t quite understand it at the time, as I moved away when I was six, but I was surrounded by such diversity and inclusion and that was my normal. I learned from my friends who had different religious beliefs from my family. The community my parents brought me into was one I’ll never forget and one that I’ll cherish for the rest of my life. My American Creed is one of diversity and inclusion.

Santa Fe

Saludo a la bandera (I salute the flag)

del Estado de Nuevo México (of the State of New Mexico)

y al símbolo Zia (and the Zia symbol)

de la amistad perfecta (of perfect friendship)

entre culturas unidas. (among united cultures)

Santa Fe is the oldest capital city in the United States. The rich, rich culture I was immersed into was a different one from LA, more localized, more whole. A few months ago, I was talking to a friend of mine who still lives in New Mexico, and she told me one of her teachers said “Even if you’ve only lived in New Mexico for one day, you are New Mexican”. This is the place where I learned to be a friend, a sister, and a daughter. The neighborhood kids would always be out and about and I fit seamlessly in. That pledge I would say every day along with the United States Pledge of Allegiance, and every day a girl in my grade would go down to the office and repeat both pledges in Spanish. That pledge meant more to me than the United States Pledge every day, because, to me, it was true. Our cultures were united and the bonds I formed are still going strong to this day. I believe that the United States is quite divisible at the moment, and that the melting pot is made of oil and water. In New Mexico, our cultures are united unlike anything else I have ever seen. My American Creed is one of family.

Maplewood

I did not want to move to New Jersey. I had friends and family in New Mexico I was not ready to leave behind. I also did not want to start middle school. In Santa Fe, elementary school went up to sixth grade. In Maplewood, middle school started in sixth grade. I quickly learned that things were different. Even being in a town that was so close to NYC my Mom only had to take two trains to get to work, the difference was immeasurable. I knew no one. Within the first two months of school, there were regular fights that would break out in the lunchroom (Mr. Grossman and Dr. Srsen are right, Bay is weird). Within the first three months of school, a girl in my grade committed suicide (Her name was Lily. I had a lot of déjà vu this May). I eventually made friends with a girl that was also in my orchestra class (I quit when I moved to Bay). In March of 2020, as I walked up to the front of my school, my friend told me that a kid in our grade had brought a gun to the library across the street the day prior. In my first period we went into an active scooter lockdown (It was not a drill). We were stuck in a lockdown for two hours. It turns out there was no gun and the child’s teacher made a wrong assumption. Then, two weeks later the COVID-19 Pandemic began. Black Lives Matter was painted every few blocks on the main street. I spent all of my seventh grade year online. I saw firsthand how poorly every government official handled the rise of racism, and the lack of support for mental health. With the rise of school shootings, hopes and prayers weren’t going to cut it. As an eleven-year-old, I could even understand that these issues had to be fixed, and that the only way for that to happen was for the government to take action. And yet, no action was taken. And they’re still issues I experience, six years later. My American Creed is one of disgust.

Bay Village

When I moved to Bay Village unexpectedly, the mask mandate was still in place and I had to start all over. It took me a long time to adjust, to accept that I wasn’t going to leave anytime soon. I was convinced Bay Village was going to be a horrible, divided place to live. I thought that everyone would hate me and I would hate everyone. I thought my political views would not be shared and it would be difficult to find common ground. But once I realized I was staying, and put aside all of my biases against Bay Village, I learned to love it. I learned to live again. I learned to have hope in my community and believe that my community can make a difference. That it can include me, that I can be family. My American Creed is one of hope.