Naperville

I am privileged

I live in Naperville

I never struggled

I have too much food to eat

I have too many clothes to wear

I am not caucasian but all my friends are

I assimilated my hair and clothes so I pretty much resemble my caucasian friends

I have notifications on my phone for new releases of my favorite designer brand

I update my closet every season from that said designer brand it's Lilly Pulitzer

To Business Insider Naperville is ranked the safest city in America to live

When I’m cold I take a fresh warm showers in my bathroom in my room

When I’m hot I take a fresh breath of air on my balcony in my room

I think about my lifestyle as a norm everyone lives like this right?

July 2016 I became an adventurous world explorer

I traveled to France and Tunisia with my parents

People are rude in Paris where are their manors?

Someone tried stealing my phone from my purse!

The robber didn’t know that I was from Naperville

Nobody has ever taken things from me

So I grabbed the robber and got it back

It didn’t hit me that he could’ve hurt me

The French police came

Everything was fine

Tunisia

My dad is from there

It is a third world country

People live very simple lives in Tunisia

Half of my extended family is from there

The little town he is from is called Gabes

In Gabes there are no labeled street signs

In Gabes surprisingly there is only one stop light

In Gabes there is around 400,000 people who live there

I didn’t know a family of 5 could fit all on one scooter and carry a ladder

This summer was my 3rd time visiting but I was very little in the past trips

I was so fascinated by everything I saw, people live such different lives there it's indescribable

On the plane from Tunisia to Naperville I realized different realities people all over the world have

Naperville is a bubble and after seeing all the things I have I don’t want to be back in it. I can’t

I am a senior in high school this is my last year in Naperville this is my chance to change my life

This is the time I can plan out my future, choose what job I want, where I can live, what I can do

I can easily attend a selective private university, work a corporate job, and stay in the bubble

My future is up to me. I will attend my dream college in New York come fall of 2017

I will work hard but I will venture outside of my bubble I won't forget others struggles

I plan to double major at Syracuse University and become an international correspondent

The world needs me to show the other side that people are struggling to survive

Innocent people are being killed, there is a scarce of food and water

The struggles of the world can’t go unheard. I won’t let it

This year has changed me more than the past 16 have

I know what I want to contribute to the world

I know the path that I need to take

I have a new way of thinking

I’m thankful for everything

The bubble is popped

Syracuse