Andy Andrews
Kay Cosgrove
English 1304
March 20, 2012

Lake Jackson My Community. When asked where I live, I usually respond “I am from Lake Jackson, Texas. Next they usually follow up with “where is that located?” Lake Jackson is a community comprised of several neighborhoods in Brazosport County, south of Houston. The city grew out of Dow Chemical's need for employee housing in the early 1940s. The company began constructing communities on the former Lake Jackson Plantation. After the town incorporated in 1944, Dow built its first streets, parks and sewer system.
Lake Jackson is one of those close knit communities where generally everyone knows everybody. You go to the same preschool, you go to the same church, and everyone goes to the same mall. In a tiny town, there is not much to do, so it most often leads to boredom and talks of leaving. That in term is what I believe is the problem in my community. People live in Lake Jackson, mostly due to the chemical plants that are located nearby. Meaning in turn most kids parents work at the plants. Lake Jackson is seen as a place to raise your kids and as a place to retire. This leads to their kids to repeat the cycle. Instead of leaving to pursue your own dreams and live your own life, you are essentially just repeating the cycle of going to the same school as your parents, work at the plants, have children of your own and thus continuing this life cycle.
The image enclosed is of the sign one sees upon entering Lake Jackson, and the other part is one of the numerous plants located in Lake Jackson. The sign bears the inscription “The City of Enchantment.” The inscription represents in a sense that the people of Lake Jackson have become enchanted, content with Lake Jackson, and not longing to leave anywhere. The plants represent essentially the future and a means of life. By living in Lake Jackson there is a growing mind set of just going with the flow. Moving away from your hometown or just out out your parents house is a leap. I think any young person who is not being actively encouraged to experience the world away from home with no strings attached needs to examine the relationships which may be holding them back.
Too often, small towns are about matching and fitting in. If you decide to leave the group for something you see as better, it will create waves. Deep down they know that if you leave– and mean it– you are not coming back. But in the town where I’m from there is an adage about young people who make it out: “They’ll be back.” The only higher education option that was presented to me after high school was the local community college. True to the saying, each semester kids who had made it out began appearing in my classes one by one. But why? It felt like a quicksand, kids sucked into the multiple generation-old patterns of their families. From a young age I also learned that living in cities was scary, stressful and crowded. There was an air of turning one’s nose up at it, as through city living was immoral. When I decided to move to the city I got a lot of, “Well I couldn’t do that. I don’t know how you’ll do it.”When you reach leaving-home age one potent thing that happens is family propaganda. I was told things like “Remember that your families are the only ones who will always be there for you” and even “I’m sure you will forget all about us…” This doctrine takes form in many clichés: “Don’t forget where you came from”, “Home is where the heart is.”Anyone who has ever vacationed knows that it only takes a few days of settling in before the hotel room becomes “home.” We are adaptive beings, your home is truly where you make it and your heart is with you.