“You can't believe in a dream until you can believe in yourself” is the perfect message describing the wonderful and amazing story of Keke Palmer in the movie “Akeelah and the Bee”. Akeelah Anderson is an eleven year old girl from South Los Angeles. Her life is not easy since her father has died, and her mom ignores her. Furthermore, her brother runs with the local gang bangers. She is smart although her environment threatens to strangle her aspirations. Responding to a threat by her school's principal, Akeelah participates in a spelling bee to avoid detention for her many absences. In spite of the objections of her mother Tanya, Akeelah enters various spelling contests, for which she is tutored by the forthright Dr. Larabee, her principal Mr. Welch and the proud residents of her neighbourhood. Akeelah can’t win unless she can overcome her insecurities and her distracting home life. This story resembles me and my dreams. Despite my own uncertainties, I’ve always tried to touch my dreams. My decision to leave my familiar environment and to come to Los Angeles was a huge step for me, and my life here has been full of challenges, the biggest of which have been surprises, adaptation and time limitation. 

To begin with, many aspects of this city have surprised me. First, the size of Los Angeles has amazed me. While visiting Westwood Village or Century City, I struggled to locate either the central point of Los Angeles (or downtown) or finding a map with the entire description of the city. In fact, it was very disturbing since Los Angeles is the largest city in the state of California plus the second-largest in the . The city is divided into many neighbourhoods, many of which were towns that were annexed by the growing city. There are also several independent cities in and around Los Angeles, but they are popularly grouped with the city of Los Angeles, either due to being completely engulfed as enclaves by Los Angeles, or lying within its immediate vicinity. Second, the lack of public transportation has frightened me. I need approximately five minutes without traffic to get to my school. Surprisingly, I waste one hour every day when I ride to UCLA. Because of the deficiency of specials roads for the metro bus, the one I take is often either gridlocked or unable to keep a schedule. As a result, it’s very common either to wait for a long time or to see arriving 3 or 5 buses at the same time. Third, the vanity of some people has aroused my interest. The excessive pride in or admiration of one's own appearance, achievements or the immoderate spectacle of wealth symbols such as those fancy cars, fashionable clothes or artificial beauties, is quite disconcerting. I’m struggling to know why those people are flaunting so excessively. Do they just feel good to show their accomplishments or are they compensating for their insecurities? On the other hand, the gap between the poor and the rich has dumbfounded me. I’ve been observing a large number of homeless people living on the streets, sleeping near the beach, asking for change or looking for foods inside our trash. A final report of the extensive count, which took place over three days last January and involved 1,000 enumerators, found that 20,000 of Los Angeles County's 88,345 homeless on any given night are concentrated in metropolitan Los Angeles. Fourth, I have been overwhelmed by the variety of nationalities from everywhere, and the diversity of religions and traditions; however, I have seen a few intercultural couples walking down the streets. Fifth, I have felt fulfilled with the quality of my English courses, the international environment at UCLA, the diversity of landscapes & weather in Los Angeles, the great number of opportunities to discover or to learn, the manner in which strangers say “how are you doing” or smile at each other, the way Americans serve and take care of Customers, the great interest of many American students in the French culture and the chance to try to accomplish my dreams. Furthermore, Rose from Guam & Los Angeles, Mary from New Jersey, Laura from , Jay from Texas and Marc-Henri & Jessica both from Martinique all here in Los Angeles are giving their time, their care, their consideration and their candor to me.

Also, it has been difficult for me to adjust to my new surroundings. For one thing, I have familiarized myself with the new variety of foods, a different diet and a huge diversity of choices. I remember how I was completely lost in the super market. For example, I tried multiple types of milk and yogurt for almost 3 months before I found what I liked. The abundance of products can be either helpful or confusing. For another thing, I have to overcome my loss of self confidence. Upon entering an unknown environment, encompassing a foreign language and different rules, I’ve sometimes felt like a child. I’m learning to get rid of my new fears. One of my doubts and anxieties is not being able to express all my thoughts fluently. I’m also concerned about not turning my sales experience into a profit right away. Moreover, I have to accommodate myself with a new concept of friendship. I have to do with just sharing short and nice moments with people around me rather than looking for deep, long term relationships. Gregory Rodriguez, an Irvine senior fellow at the New America Foundation, wrote in the Los Angeles Times of July 2006 that a new study showed Americans have fewer confidants, and people should be more friendly for the good of the country. He added that the general decline in friendship should concern us all.

In addition, I have been concerned with time limitations. Primarily, I have been stressed out about keeping in track with my goals, such as improving my English, familiarizing myself with American entrepreneurial skills, attending Business Networking events, finding a sales position in California but also satisfying my thirst for knowledge about American culture, new movies, sightseeing excursions in California and African American history. Secondly, I have become concerned with a sudden flow of distractions around me. For example, studying on a sunshiny day, I was lured away by leisure activities, such as updating my website, hanging out with my friends on my favorite beach, Venice, or watching television; thus, enjoying Los Angeles. Thirdly, I am worried that my money is running out. Even though I’m saving money by living simply and benefiting from the exchange rate of the US Dollar against the Euro, my savings are depleting merely because of the high cost of living in Los Angeles. Rent.com shows that the overall cost of living in Los Angeles was 33% above the national average in 2006, with housing cost tending to be among the most expensive in the nation. Nevertheless, I truly believe in my investment even though it is undoubtedly true that, in my case,  “Time is Money”.  However, I think my limited money may cut my time in half.

As we have seen, my life in Los Angeles has been full of challenges, the biggest of which have been dealing with the unexpected, adjusting to my new environment and getting everything done within a time frame so far. However, this experience has been enriching my life and I expect to continue to learn more about Los Angeles. I love to inspire myself by quotes such as “You can't believe in a Dream until you can believe in yourself” or “Every obstacle is a steppingstone to success. You should view problems in your life as opportunities to prove yourself.”

Sincerely

Jean-Marc Dedeyne.

Essay wrote in 104 level at UCLA Extension
Mina Holte (Grammar and Writing Instructor).