I am from the suburbs of Austin, Texas. My neighborhood is very white, everyone is pretty friendly, the neighborhood requires our lawns to be kept, most moms are far too involved in the PTA, everyone plays sports and is in a never ending competition. I wasnt very inspired to create art in this environment. Althouh i grew up drawing with my grandpa and uncle, i didn't feel encouraged to do art in school.In 8th grade I made one of my better decisions in life and transferred to the fine arts magnet school closer to down town. Mccallum was incredibly diverse unlike my previous schools where everyone looked and acted the same, yet everyone got along much better. It was not free of racial and class tension- the stereotypes ran deep- but on an individual level everyone was pretty nice to each other.
Austin is an interesting place. It is definitely a hippie town at the core, but the suburbs are growing fast and it is still in the middle of Texas and has still been governed by George w bush and Rick perry for way too long. Just about everyone I know, myself included, has some old, crazy, racist, conservative, member of the NRA and the tea party grandfather. Although it can be really upsetting to hear the old people make absurd statements, it is a great place to see the new generation of thinking overcoming the old. It is truly an inspiring environment.

-Shelby