#1

My hometown is Mountain View California, which for reference is about forty five minutes south of San Francisco. I have lived there for all but one year of my life up until college. Nothing is especially unique about Mountain View specifically but something that nice about the surrounding area is that it is right in the middle of Silicon Valley. If you google “where is silicon valley” my hometown will come up. This is fortunate for a couple of reasons but the big thing is that there is a ton of opportunity in STEM fields because silicon valley is home base for all of these big tech giants. Google, Apple, Facebook, Tesla, and many others are all looking for employees in the area. This is nice for me specifically because when I go home over the summer I have a chance to get internships at some of these very same companies (fingers crossed). The downside of all of this is that the cost of living is through the roof, and it is for that same reason that I can’t even consider moving back there directly after college. Even in a STEM field I wouldn’t make enough money to sustain myself with an entry level position and a college degree. If I were to move back it would have to be a good amount of time later after I have already spent some time in the field. Another downside about the area is that it is insanely stressful, everyones always busy and super competitive and the pressure to succeed is immense. Regardless, all this being said I wouldn’t change a thing.