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I Live Here
Brandon
Brandon provides a warm place to come home to for a former New Jersey resident.
By ASHLEY TORRES
Published September 16, 2005
The car glides over the only hill in town revealing car dealerships on the left and a Costco on the right. I glance at my mother with a smile stretching the length of my face. Welcome to Brandon.
Growing up in Jersey City, N.J., or as some people call it, the Armpit of America, I never thought that home would consist of a place where it never snowed. Nonetheless, this big little melting pot of suburbia has become more than just a home to me. It has become my challenge and my inspiration.
In the last few months, a bright flashing yellow light from a security car can be seen seeping through every household curtain in Heather Lakes and Providence Lakes. An elderly man drives the security car, cruising at a cool 25 mph. The cause of the extensive security in these suburban neighborhoods? Rival gangs.
At one point, these so-called gangs were causing quite a stir in the Brandon area. It came to a point where one only had to log online to the Hillsborough County sheriff's Web site arrest log to be sure whether or not a friend would answer a phone call. Recently, these activities have come to a halt after officials decided enough was enough. As a result, Riverview High School has become a little more peaceful despite the occasional nasty look for bumping into someone in overcrowded halls.
As with every town, Brandon has its faults, but it is still a place worth calling home. The feeling of friendliness that one gets walking into the neighborhood Publix and being able to identify the clerk at the counter, the joy of the sunset and starry nights, and the smell of dew on the grass at 6 o'clock in the morning can not be found anywhere else. The closeness and simple convenience of having major stores, a mall, a library and a city at one's disposal gives individuals a sense of control.
It is Brandon that has encouraged me to become the best scholastic journalist I can become, and it is Brandon where I will whole-heartedly run when I want to come home.
Ashley Torres lives in Brandon.
[Last modified September 15, 2005, 11:01:03]
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