Disneyland Ticket

By Kimberly

Posted on January 28, 2023

Cover Image Title: Avengers Campus Skyline (Disneyland, CA)

Cover Image by: Alix

Classification: Photography

Specifications: Digital

Year: 2022

The car glides on the freeway like skates on ice, and I arrive at the airport. A place where people from all walks of life come and go. A city where the shift between day and night becomes the switch of life. A city that never sleeps. The Big Apple, The City of Dreams, or as you know it as. New York City is at my fingertips. I want the streets to make me feel brand new and to be inspired by the bright lights that Alicia Keys sang about in her song, “Empire State of Mind.” I get a chance to sip every part of the world when I step inside NYC.

I am 16 years old, and I have one ticket to life. I have experienced the rich history of San Francisco, which travels throughout the city, creating iconic landmarks like Alcatraz, Fisherman’s Wharf, and The Golden Gate Bridge. Friends and family restrict me, saying that NYC can’t compare and that SF is home, but home is what we make it. The world is my oyster.

NYC’s diversity draws me closer. I love all people and love to learn about more people. On this common ground, my love of NYC and my dream to pursue a career in psychology branch out harmoniously. Amazingly in NYC, with every turn of the head, there is a different face and an interesting life story. Strangers fuel my curiosity, and NYC has no shortage, although San Francisco offers diversity too. I absolutely adore the people I have come across here just walking through the streets. Restaurant owners with the most welcoming personalities, classmates with the wildest stories of their life in the country that they were born in, or friendly faces on the bus with the most detailed tattoos.

I have friends who love San Francisco so much that they would be very content staying in SF for the rest of their lives. Some friends don’t cast their eyes on other cities, let alone New York. I used to think, “These people are absolutely crazy. It’s like having a ticket to Disneyland and only going on one ride the whole time. What a waste!” The more thought I put into it, however, the more I come to understand where they are coming from. Many of my friends are rooted in San Francisco, used to its weather, or simply conservatively inclined. San Francisco is their favorite ride in the world. No one’s ticket is wasted if happiness awaits ahead.

I want to close with advice to any young person reading this: Do whatever you love with a purpose. No matter whether it is an actor career in Hollywood or a main street business in a small town, as long as it is your choice, do it. We live in an age filled with hopes and possibilities, but it is up to us to take that step or not. To be a clinical psychologist in a diverse city is what I aim to do with my ticket. What will you do with yours?

* The End *

[Writing Editor: J.Y.]