Lisa Wray and Her Transition From Brooklyn to Rural Maryland

Arthur Weatherholt

English 336

Classmate Profile Assignment

Lisa Wray and Her Transition From Brooklyn to Rural Maryland

By: Arthur Weatherholt

Lisa Wray is an 18 year old first semester college student majoring in Political Science at Frostburg State University. She is originally from Brooklyn, New York and moved to Maryland her junior year of high school. She is a quiet young lady who doesn’t like to party or associate herself with what some folks consider to be the ‘typical’ university student behaviors, “I don’t do what typical college kids do.” By how she describes herself, she studies hard and says, “I keep mostly to myself.” She is also very passionate about her faith and is a Rising Coordinator of FSU’s chapter of Salvation and Praise. Which “is a student organization that exists to witness to the communities of non-believing students and those who follow Jesus Christ to grow in the love and power of God by an applicable working revelation knowledge of God’s word through the help of the Holy Spirit, and to proclaim Jesus Christ not only as SAVIOR, but also as LORD AND KING” (Link Here). Next semester “I will be the official leader of the FSU chapter” to which she also stated she is “definitely excited” for. 

When delving further into her personal life, she said that moving “totally changed” her life, “moving changed me for the better definitely.” She said, “getting out of Brooklyn, I felt like I had a shot at life.” But the transition from big city life in Brooklyn and Queens, is so vastly different from even the cities in the areas she has lived in rural Prince Georges and Ann Arundel county Maryland. She said that the cultural differences were a big shock, but she appreciates the differences. She was amazed by how much bigger houses are outside of where she grew up, I’ve never seen houses this big in my life.” This is because homes in Maryland can be 2-3 times the square footage of the typical home or apartment in the cities of NY. But that is not all that she gained from the move. She said she wanted a modern looking school when she searched for colleges. Since she was sure she was going to be away from home, she wanted something scenic. “FSU just looks beautiful,” she said. Another thing to note is how the move affected her faith. She feels a lot “closer to god outside of Brooklyn,” she feels “more versed spiritually.” Being away from the culture she grew up in allowed her to experience different things and “learn a lot more” about herself. When asked how she felt about which she liked more, the city life or the rural life, she simply explained that this new scenery is still so new to her that she isn’t certain which she prefers just yet but, she also said “parts of the city... I’m still drawn to.”