I am from a snow-white house next to a towering hill

I am from a burger-loving family, the delightful saltiness warms up our insides

I am from a street with a fire station and a thundering alarm and siren 

                                                                                        Weee oooh Weee oooh 

I am from covering my ears with my bed sheets as the thundering alarm and siren roar 

I am from a dog who loves to shed hair and stick it on to humans with no 

regard for laundry 

I am from a pocket-sized park where my friend broke their thumb

and where I got my soccer juggling record

I am from Xfinity wifi which supposedly gives you the best wifi, but it doesn’t

I am from an ear-splitting roaring family of five

I am from a house filled with soccer enthusiasts 

I am from have numerous soccer posters in my room 

And my wall has multiple holes from switching poster to poster 

This is where I’m from

I am from the dream of being a mechanical engineer or architect 

I am from being passionate about sports, especially biking and soccer 

the rush of running down the side of the field and speeding down a hill makes me feel forever grateful

I am from persevering when the humongous hills are too much for me and my bike

I am from the dream of going to Berkeley or Stanford for college

I am from missing my brother and sister dearly when they leave for college again

I am from playing the piano even though I despise it, the keys make me want to flinch instead of making me want to tap my foot accordingly to the rhythm

I am from getting up late on school days

I am from a large family with 27 first cousins

This is where I’m from

I am from being the only person I know to love the sound of popcorn going 

                                                                                                                Pop

                                                                          Bang

                                                                                 Crack crack crack

I am from enjoying the sweet delicate taste of pasta

I am from hating the flavor of mushrooms the crusty, repulsive, and off-putting texture makes me lose my appetite 

I am from always forgetting my mom is gluten-free, and then offering her non-gluten-free bread

I am from eating healthy food because my mom is a nutritionist 

I am from being forced into healthy food by my mom, but when she’s not around I have the most enormous sweet tooth in North America

This is where I’m from 

I am from ordering burgers whenever we arrive home for the airport no matter the time, the mouth-watering flavor makes me ignore my mom screaming at me to get a napkin, to not sprint, and to not hide the fries in my pocket

I am from not getting presents on Christmas, but getting them on January 6

I am from putting my shoes on the couch on January 6 so that I know which presents are mine

I am from watching Princess Bride with a certain friend everytime I see him

I am from my parents screaming at me to not waste water

I am from waking up too late on school days, and needing to make up an excuse with the excuse book in class

I am from eating blueberry muffins constantly in the morning

This is where I’m from 

 I am from people calling me very short, but me not caring

I am from people saying I like to plan my whole itinerary 

I am from people saying I overthink everything

I am from being underestimated when it comes to sports

This is where I’m from

I am from constantly thinking about border patrol around Mexico, thinking how that will impact Mexico when I go there

I am from the idea of world peace and that all the racism, sexism, and climate change would all just stop

I am from eagerly waiting those fifteen minutes after I take a rapid COVID test

I am from having the worst mask tan 

Once again, this is where I’m from