participation in it. Above all, I felt that there is a need to expose the different realities of this

metropolitan area because people, who are not from there, assume that life is one way when it is

really more layered than media perhaps, depicts it. Even those living within this urban edge, at

times, overlook the essence of living in such form and end up not appreciating the great value the

city has on our culture and us. If one learns and grows through the difference in others, what

better place than the city to magnify and allow us the opportunity to immerse ourselves in such

exploration. As I was born and raised there, I learned and shaped myself through this plurality

and even though I might not have understood such transformation earlier, it still had an effect in

me. People might perceive my work as pessimistic or perhaps detrimental because they overlook

the details on how the city works. My work is not a negative outlook on the city. It is merely a

depiction of the things that allowed me to learn, develop character, garner my competitive

personality and at the same time be humble about my position in this shared urban space. This

need, to better understand one's purpose and meaning, rises from the death of my mother. Her

role in helping me figure out what I am was tore through death so it was up to me to search for

such. Writing became the most intimate yet reciprocal form of dialoguing between my external

reality, my recognition of presence and my internal memories. The writing not only depicts my

memories, experiences and observations, it also demonstrates that even though the urban world

is composed of different cultures, we all still share common experiences within this context. The

writing allows the reader to create sensorial experiences with the work. The work could say what

other people say but it is my words that give meaning to the research because the viewer is able

to experience a culture through my eyes, my words, acting as a filter to their heart and mind.