Place Where You Live:

Washington, D.C.

I moved here in 2007, so some might say I am not a D.C. native. And yet, shouldn’t D.C. be “home” for everyone?

Ask the person who traveled from continents away to check out the cherry blossoms when they’re in season.

Ask the family who drove for twenty-four hours across America to witness Obama’s inauguration.

Ask anyone who has experienced WMATA outages, delays, and disruptions. D.C. is home for everyone, including those who are visitors and are not U.S. citizens.

I love D.C. because I get goosebumps every time I see the Capitol or the White House, no matter who occupies the oval office. Laughter and tears flood these SE, SW, NE, NW streets. I don’t get politics but I what I do know is that people here don’t hold back their ideas, comments, and opinions about our politics. People have this sort of ownership with D.C., and to me that means they are invested. Maybe I won’t agree with them, but this means they are invested. 

You can find me walking from the Trinidad neighborhood to the Capitol with my pups when the weather isn’t too bad, answering a trivia question or two at ASL Trivia with friends, or enjoying some stories at ASL Live and Story District. D.C. offers so much for any one person to appreciate. Sometimes it is overwhelming for transplants, but I love it.

So much history that I am both sad and proud of exists here. As D.C. transitioned into a fast-paced, cutthroat, hustling city, it’s also become a place for artists, chefs, and foreigners to call home. Look at Georgetown Cupcakes or Ben’s Chili Bowl.

D.C is where Martin Luther King Jr. shared his dream, where the first U.S. women’s suffrage parade took place, and where the Capitol Crawl happened. People look to D.C. as a city of change and those who live or visit, are change agents. I’m a change agent.