Why Utah?

Utah will always have a special place in my heart. When I finished sixth grade, a dear Aunt was visiting our family when she heard that I was having trouble at school learning English. In the school I was attending, English was not an elective. It was a subject that had to be taken the same way you took Math or science. For those who speak Spanish, it is very difficult to learn English because in Spanish, we write everything phonetically. Every letter in our alphabet has a sound. There are no short vowels or long vowels. We can write any sound using our alphabet and you never need to memorize how to spell a word.  

The Following poem illustrates the complexity of English.

“We’ll begin with a box and the plural is boxes

But the plural of ox becomes oxen not oxes

One fowl is a goose but two are call geese

Yet the plural of moose should never be meese.

You may find a lone mouse or a nest full of mice 

Yet the plural for house is houses not hice.

If the plural of man is always call men,

Why shouldn’t the plural of a pan be called pen? 

I was struggling with English, I didn’t get it so my Aunt invited me to study in Utah. The night before my departure, I went around telling my neighbors: “Tomorrow I will be going to the land of the dollar.” It was the first brave thing I ever did and the first place I visited away from my home. I was only twelve. 

 

I remember how cold it felt coming to Utah in December, it was my first time seeing snow and my first Christmas away from home. The one image I have that impressed me, was all the gifts my Aunt had reserved to give out for Christmas. She had a closet full of gifts for every child, I was used to getting three gifts tops. Shortly after I arrived, in January, I celebrated my thirteenth birthday and all the sudden, I felt home sick but I made the decision to make the most of this student exchange experience while I attended Monroe Elementary for the remainder of sixth grade and the first half of Seventh grade at West Lake Jr. High. When the year was up and my visa was about to expire, I was immersed in the American culture and discovered that despite the fact, that I spoke with an accent, I was fluent in English and understood every word that was said to the point that when I returned home, I could attend the prestigious “Escuela Americana.” (The American school) Mission accomplished! 

 

Years later, I was faced with the big decision of where to attend College? My friends and classmates were moving to big Cities like New York, Los Angeles or Miami. Naturally, I chose Utah. “Why Utah?” I was asked. “Where is Utah anyway?” “What’s so special about Utah?” I believe is the people moving into it. Utah has a unique component not found anywhere else in the United States. For many, Utah is “Zion” the center place for gathering members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. For the past forty years while I have lived among the people of Utah, I can honestly say, I never met people more dedicated to a common good, empathetic, resilient, resourceful and generous. 

 

The people of Utah welcomes those who are looking for freedom, fairness, opportunities, peace and safety. Native Utahans’ great-grandparents were at one time refuges themselves as they made their journey from New York, to Ohio to Missouri to Illinois and finally at last, they found respite in the Utah territory. A paragraph in the novel My Antonia by Willa Carther explains how “sunflower seeds were planted by Latter-day Saints pioneers as they were crossing the plains, leaving behind a trail to help the next group of pioneers find their way to Zion.” They get it. They understand what we have gone through and it’s a place where a lot of people are bilingual as they have returned from Missions abroad.

 

Over the years, what I have observed of the people I met in Utah are people who see those qualities unique in you and not judged you by stereotypes, appearances or assumptions and I love that!  The predominant religion and culture is rooted in the belief that we are all brothers and sisters, children of the same God, and not only that, but that you have the privilege of worshiping how, where or what may, according to the dictates of your own heart and coincidence. When I asked people from other lands why they moved to Utah, they declared it was their desire to move where people are nice, they bring cookies to your door to show they care or as they move into your neighborhood to introduce themselves. I don’t blame anyone for moving to Utah because I belong in that group as well. Utah is indeed the best kept secret and I was fortunate enough to have made my home in the Beehive State!      

 

All my bags are packed and headed that way. I can't wait!!!

Con amor,

Vero