It was summertime. I remember being equally elated and anxious about the prospect of attending an American school. What an honor! What a privilege to receive an American education, I reminded myself.
The place was McAllen, Texas, located in the rapidly commercializing region of the Rio Grande Valley, more colloquially known as the RGV. A majority of the population is Mexican-American. However, a sizable number of Filipino, South Asian, and Korean immigrants inhabit the area as well. My middle school was no more than a stone’s throw away from our apartment. Travis Middle School – I remember feeling complacent with the simplicity of the name. To me, it emphasized my assumptions about the school being nothing short of average. But I reminded myself, average in America is spectacular everywhere else.