Mazda 6 Personal Narrative

Growing up I spent a lot time gazing out of car windows. Through the lens of my mom 's 2003 Mazda 6 I observed the contrasting worlds that exists within miles of each other. I did not grow up in the Austin advertised in brochures, nor did I spend summers by the lake, walk down 6th Street with friends, listen to the live music at night. I grew up in the Austin never depicted in travel guides or on TV. I drove down poverty-stained Twelfth Street, danced in the sprinklers under broken street lights, attended midnight barbecues at Gibbons park, and listened to R&B and Mariachi music blasting from car stereos on my grandma 's porch.

I was raised in a traditional Southern Black Baptist family with roots deeply planted in the South. With origins in Elgin, Texas ad Gloster Mississippi they are well acquainted with poverty and hard work. I was raised in a strict upbringing, there 's a certain way a lady acts, how she treats her elders, and how she behaves. My mom has a challenging job,as a

In middle school the negative realities of my neighborhood became exposed to sheltered eyes. Consumed with boredom, bad influences, and distractions, I saw friends sucked into to violence, teen pregnancy, alcohol abuse, and selling drugs all due to lack of education and options. This drove my pursuit of change, I focused on education and surrounded myself with positive and forward thinking people, and by the grace of God, I overheard a conversation about the Liberal Arts and Science Academy. Located on the top floor of my neighborhood high school it was a perfect model of Austin itself . Two seemingly completely different societies separated by a staircase. Attending this school opened up my mind to new books, movies, people, cultures, ways of life, and opened my eyes to the other side of Austin. It also revealed a battle within myself that parallels the relationship between LASA and LBJ, a the thin line between two very different realities which are equally important in my