The Bronx, Catalyst of My Identity

ISAAC GOMEZ

Change is part of life and you can find an important person in your life in the most unexpected places. You just have to give it a chance.

Moving to the Bronx in 2015 was a big change for me. My mom was dating a guy named Gabriel whom we had to move in with after barely knowing him. My mom at the time had many issues with her mother, my grandma, trying to take over her every life decision. My grandma wasn't helping my mom financially and because mom felt suffocated in her house we had to make a bumpy move from Brooklyn to the Bronx.

Once we finally had all our belongings in our new home and my brother and I got registered at the nearest elementary school, I started to feel more frustrated with this sudden change. I wasn't necessarily upset about moving but the why was always a problem for me. I kept thinking, I’m comfortable with my life, so why do we have to move? My life only involved my family in Brooklyn and getting picked up on weekends when my dad could take us in. Not only was I disturbed from the somewhat consistent parts of my life on my left, but on my right my dad would whisper reasons to focus my anger on my mom and her boyfriend. After all, dad didn't like the idea of his children living with the new guy.

Throughout the year of 2015 I was starting to settle in my new home because of the two most important people in my life today. I got to know my neighbor, who everyone called Nana, and got close to my second grade teacher, Mrs. Gallo. I don’t remember most of my memories with Mrs. Gallo except for the feeling of being understood and the warmth of her patience. I wasn’t a saint as a kid so most of my parent-teacher conferences ended with teachers bringing up how disruptive I’d been in class. Mrs. Gallo was so completely different that I couldn’t believe teachers like her even existed. Instead of scolding me or isolating me from the class like the other teachers, Mrs. Gallo spoke to me and tried to understand why I would act out and that was all I needed. I needed someone to listen to me.

I know Nana helped me a lot because on the second to last day of fifth grade a classmate of mine was picking on me, but I ended up fighting her and she didn’t pick on anyone else after that. It’s not that I believe fighting is the way to resolve your problems, but as Nana always said, “If someone hits you, you hit them ten times harder.” They made a big impact in my life from Nana teaching me to stand up for myself to Mrs. Gallo becoming my role model because of how kind and understanding she was towards me. As a result of meeting these important people to me, my memories with them were pivotal moments for me to move into maturity.