Good Ol' Scotts Valley

I grew up in a small town called Scotts Valley, near Santa Cruz and the majority of the population is upper-middle class white citizens. I was one of six other Asians in my class and three of them were not even a hundred percent Asian. Most of my classmates, including myself had economically stable families. The families that were not as well off didn’t seem to want to stay in this town for long. In fifth grade, my best friend, Chelsea moved to Oregon because she said that her family could no longer afford their house and they were having trouble with money. At the time, I was shocked and I didn’t understand her reasoning. I never thought that money could be such a big and demanding issue.

I love my hometown but at the same time it feels like I was living in a bubble. My community shelters their children and sugar coats situations, which is not reality. For instance, if a cop sees a homeless person then they will automatically be directed towards the homeless shelter in Santa Cruz. Scotts Valley is not very diverse when it comes to social class and we are constantly penalized for this. One time when I was in downtown Santa Cruz waiting in line to buy my ticket to go see the movie, Napoleon Dynamite, I heard a group of kids from a local high school yell out how Scotts Valley is just a town full of white, snobby, rich kids. Even though I didn’t say anything directly to them, in my mind I was thinking yes, a majority of the population is white and most of the people in town are well off, but this does not make us snobby. Being put under this class title whether economically or socially does not define your personality nor should it justify behavior.