Moving to utah

[ncraw]

Hi guys my parents just told us that were moving to salt lake city this summer. we are originally from georgia but we moved to san francisco for my dads work and we were meant to go back to georgia this summer but he got another job in salt lake hes a doctor that also teaches at colleges. Im so mad because i just want to be with my friends again and i just made good friends here in california and eveyone is telling me that utah is racist and im mexican catholic and everyone in utah is white mormon we will be going to public school i want to go to catholic school theres a lot of catholic schools in the city and i went to catholic school in georgia but my parents said its easier to go in and out of public schools but i want to stay in one place. My parents dont care that i hate living in other places i miss georgia so much

[Dalcourt]

Well...I don't think all of Utah and SLC is white and Mormon and racist. It's just a prejudice. So don't go there with all these negativity.

I understand your feelings about schools. I used to go to a Catholic private school it was so much better than the public school I attend now.
So maybe you can talk about it with your parents again. I mean yeah going in and out public school might be easier but should it not be more important to them that you have a good school environment? I'm sure they want you to be successful. So U guess you just have to find the right arguments and not just tell them you don't like public school.
I'm sure your parents care...it's just an unlucky job situation.

You cannot make them move back to Georgia...I'm afraid but you sure can try to make the best out of your own situation. Later you can look back on it as a great life experience I'm sure :)

But we are all here to listen whenever you feel you need to vent about the whole thing if course.

[drhalsey1]

Hi guys my parents just told us that were moving to salt lake city this summer. we are originally from georgia but we moved to san francisco for my dads work and we were meant to go back to georgia this summer but he got another job in salt lake hes a doctor that also teaches at colleges. Im so mad because i just want to be with my friends again and i just made good friends here in california and eveyone is telling me that utah is racist and im mexican catholic and everyone in utah is white mormon we will be going to public school i want to go to catholic school theres a lot of catholic schools in the city and i went to catholic school in georgia but my parents said its easier to go in and out of public schools but i want to stay in one place. My parents dont care that i hate living in other places i miss georgia so much

Ok, so I'm from Utah, and lived in Salt Lake a good portion of my life, so I can maybe change that perspective a bit. Firstly, there are a lot of Mormons, I won't deny that, but now every Mormon is white either, also there are other religions present in the state and in Salt Lake specifically, though as I'm not part of another religion I'm not sure where or just generally how it is here. Secondly, there is little racism that I've experienced, especially in Salt Lake, I'd say that there is a pretty high percentage of Latino (not specifically Mexican, have Latino in general) and Polynesian compared to white in a lot of the city, when I lived there I would say that most of my friends were Mexican or otherwise Latino and a fair number of Polynesian/Islander too. I understand you will still miss Georgia, but I am simply trying to make Utah seem a bit more bearable is all. And if you have questions or want to talk about it or just vent feel free to message me.

[lliam]

Last vacation during our family trip through the US, we visited the host family of my stepbro in Georgia. Nice people, but people with, for my taste a very strange tendency to praise God all the time. From the outside, to me they lived a normal life.

My stebro later moved to another family because he somehow got in trouble with his host mother when he defended a classmate who was involved in an incident on his school. That guy is of of Afro-American-Columbian descent and it seems, his troubles had something to do with this ffact.

Nyway, my stepbrother then realized that his host family actually had very racist opinions, which badly affected his relationship with these nice people because they were not very tolerant to people who had a different, more liberal opinion in such cases.

In short, racism is everywhere. Often you just have to look more closely to see it. When I lived under the roof of this family, I found no sign of it.

Only the habit of talking about God so often, and sending the children on Christian missions instead of in vacation camps or such, was a thing I found very strange. But I thought, that's just how it is when an atheist is a guest of a devout family.


So I think you should give Salt Lake City a try.

[Ben7]

I can certainly understand your trepidation about having to move somewhere completely new that you don't know at all, where you don't know anyone and will have to pretty much start over again.

I understand how you feel because earlier in my life, the situation I was in forced me to move a lot and I remember feeling just terrible each time - so much anxiety, worry, fear sometimes, or just downright felt angry. It's never a good feeling for sure.

In the end, this is something that is beyond your control and unfortunately there is little you can do. But you should still keep in mind several things:

- I'm sure your parents don't want to move around either, but due to your dad's job, it's not something he can control either. Being your dad and presumably the provider of your family (or one of) he is doing what's best for his family in deciding to move. It is in Utah that he has a job, no in Georgia anymore. So in Georgia he wouldn't have a job anymore and wouldn't be able to look after you anymore.

- As with any place you will find good people and bad people. Don't let it bother you. Avoid the bad people and try to befriend the good people.

- If you're in middle school - or it doesn't matter what year really - you will always have plenty of people your age around. Try to talk to people you meet in class, start with small talk and try to seek out any common ground between you and the other person. From there, you can go a long way, talking more in depth about the commonalities that you share with others. You will have many classes and will meet many people. Try to look at it positively. It may be difficult at first, and maybe awkward, but don't doubt that there are good people out there, and many that would likely want to have you as their friend. But this will most likely require you to make the first steps.

- Try not to be mad at your parents. Tell them how you feel of course, but realize that they are probably in a bind too and they probably don't want to move either. You said it's about your dad's job and so it's probably out of THEIR control too.

- Once you hit 18 you can do anything you want and live anywhere you want. You don't have to stay there for the rest of your life if you don't want to.

Feel free to message me or respond here to discuss further, but in any case, I wish you the best of luck and I really do hope everything goes as well as possible for you. I hope that you will see in some time that it will not be as bad as you think.