Personal Narrative: On Moving 1, 400 Miles

Dominic L. Knisely

T. Goldman

ENC 1101

18 September 2015

On Moving 1,400 Miles

According to the Miami New Times 64% of the people living in Florida as of 2012 were not born in the sunshine state. As of July 20th, 2015 I became a part of the majority in this tropical peninsula. I am originally from another peninsula, but to identify it as tropical would be ludicrous. Michigan, from its people to its climate, shaped me to be who I am now. For eighteen years I was surrounded by all the family I had ever met, friends whose parents were friends with my parents, and fresh water most often in the form of snow and ice. Even though I have made countless decisions, moving to Florida is the biggest decision I have made thus far because I left my friends and family behind, I left the environment I was familiar and comfortable with, and chose to pay out-of-state tuition for one year.

My mother is oldest child of nine raised in a home filled with Sicilian traditions.

My aunts and uncles were all no more than a ten minute drive away. When I was growing up I knew my cousins as my best friends. On the weekends it was my cousins who I was playing video games with and going outside to build a fort out of tree branches. The one thing my family could be most known for is their generosity. My family would sooner sell me a car for next to nothing than trade it in for a new Cadillac, and so they did. Today, their generosity and love is still felt from so far away. I have started to make a few friends here and maybe one day I will end up selling my car for next to nothing to one of these Floridians. If so I look forward to the

day.
The friends, family, and people of Michigan made me happy, but Michigan itself me happy. Imagine an ocean except it is not salty, there are no sharks, and no jellyfish; that is Lake Michigan. Every year on my birthday, which doubles as Independence Day, I would be up at the pinky of the mitten in Traverse City. Traverse City Bay is known for their cherries and their fudge, both of which I would eat until I was sick. This year instead I will eat fried seafood and try to enjoy the salt, sharks, and jellyfish in the Gulf of Mexico.
Leaving the place I grew up loving was hard, and money is not everything but it is something. When I first spoke with Jorge, my financial advisor at Florida Gulf Coast University he told me I would be paying about four times as much per credit hour compared to someone who has lived here for over a year. $850 per credit hour is nothing to be happy about, especially when the Eastern Michigan University eagles were offering me a tuition free four-year degree. However, all that being Florida Gulf Coast University eagle has to offer is something to be happy about. Out of all the higher-level educational institutions I have seen the one I am at is the best. Next year will be relieving to only pay a fraction of what I currently am.
No one chose all of this for me; I did it to myself. As of right now I am happy with my decision and I truly believe I am in the right place. My family will always be there for me, so right now building new and valuable relationships is a priority. Michigan is a wonderful peninsula, and Florida is too; all beaches fresh or salted are still beaches I will gladly spend a whole day on. This year money is a big concern, but it will be drastically less burdening by this time next year. I was correct in choosing to come here. I hope my next big decision works out just as well.

Works Cited
Munzenrieder, Kyle. "Florida Has the Second Fewest Native Residents of Any State." Miami New Times. Miami New Times, 18 Aug. 2014. Web. 17 Sept. 2015. .