Culture of One

My parents met at a public swimming pool in El Centro, California. My mom was eighteen, visiting her mother and step-father and my dad had been displaced from his New York hometown because he recently joined the military. They got married three months later, and embarked on a chaotic journey through various colleges. My mom attended schools in Fullerton, California and eventually ended up finishing her degree in English Literature at the University of Idaho. She managed to convince my dad to pursue a degree in physics. My life began as my parents attempted to finish college and some of my first memories were of the university day care. While my parents toiled away in class, I distinctly remember accidentally pulling the fire alarm which was placed—rather questionably—next to the indoor slide, easily within the reach of a toddler. My mom tells me a whole mob of fire trucks arrived at the scene before they realized a two-year-old had triggered the alarm. I’m still highly embarrassed.

For most of my life, my family has constantly been on the move because my dad—up until recently—flew as a pilot for the US Marines. After my birth in Idaho, I have lived in Virginia, Florida, Mississippi, North Carolina, California, Japan, and Washington. Because we had a rather fast-paced lifestyle, my family and I quickly grew accustomed to functioning in foreign environments. After arriving in Japan mid-December in 2006, none of our belongings—including the Christmas decorations—had made it across the Pacific yet. So, my mom snagged a discarded tree from the apartment dumpster and my three sisters and I decorated it with folded paper cranes and origami balloons, decorations that Mom had salvaged from a fancy dinner party. As an eight-year-old kid on the other side of the ocean without her favorite Christmas decorations, I felt a little lost and isolated. But my mother quickly adapted to the situation, making a home out our empty apartment for Christmas that year. In spite of those moments of feeling lost in an unknown world, I’ve enjoyed my constantly changing life enormously and have since fostered a love for traveling. 

Every time my family had to uproot itself to relocate to a new state—or to a new country in the case of Japan—we grew closer together as we learned how to establish ourselves in new environments.

I have three younger sisters whose names are Claire, Emily, and Allison. As my family has moved around, the four of us have had many adventures ranging from hiking the slippery rocks of Seven Falls in Japan to accidentally entering a rip current in North Carolina to enduring week-long road trips across the United States. We rarely behave perfectly toward each other, but because we have always been together throughout our frequent travels, my sisters constitute much of my identity. They compel me to be more outgoing and more patient and I can’t imagine who I would be without them.

Because my family has been all over the place, I never know what to say when people ask me where my home town is. I feel a little exhausted whenever I have to explain why I don’t have one, but ultimately, I love my vibrant, ever-changing life. Because I have been on the move ever since I was born, I’m used to adjusting and changing my routine and lifestyle. I attribute my willingness to explore new places and my fascination with different cultures to my adventure-filled childhood.