My eyes open to the dimly lit interior of my parents' Ford Windstar.
I see my parents in the front seats.
They rest before the Sun brings the dawn of the new day and awakens my weary protectors.

My parents.

Once separated from their mother country and brought together in the foreign country known as the United States.
My eyes decide to take a short break before the motivating screams of our fellow field workers fill the atmosphere around us.

…

My eyes open.

I see my friends playing with a football on a brightly lit beach.
The warmth of the Sun’s rays illuminate and grant life’s breath to our surroundings.

The brisk breeze found only along UCSB’s ocean borders brush the hairs on my cheek, gifting me with cold sensations upon my skin.

I close my eyes.

I see the truth.

My parents shaped my future.

From the beginning of my youth.