#1

My hometown is Irvine, Ca in the Orange County area. I have lived there since I was about 5 years old. When I first moved to Irvine from my birthplace of Tennessee my mom and I lived in a tiny little apartment just the two of us and eventually a year later we, moved into our house. I would say my hometown is unique because it’s one of the nation’s largest planned urban communities and you can tell it’s very pristine and uniform almost in a way that doesn’t seem real. Most people refer to Irvine as the “Irvine Bubble” because it truly feels like its almost its own County. In any direction that you travel outside of Irvine even if it’s only 15 min the vibe completely changes. My favorite part about it would have to be the fact that I live not even 10 minutes from Newport Beach, Ca and very, fortunately, got to grow up basically at the beach my whole life which always felt like my escape from the “bubble”. I am also very close to places like Disneyland and my other favorite beaches such as Laguna and Huntington, and if it weren’t for being able to go to the beach all the time I probably would’ve absolutely hated growing up in Irvine. My least favorite part about it would have to be the exact fact that it is its own little “bubble” per se and it feels like your stuck. Because of this stuck feeling was one of the reasons I chose to move so far away and come to Chico to be able to experience something so different and so I can say with 100% certainty I will not be moving back to Irvine after college. (293 words)