Ranch Reflections are articles written by LRHS students and staff who want to share their experiences, thoughts, and concerns. This is a great opportunity for Mustangs to branch out beyond traditional news stories. In this edition an LRHS sophomore reflects on moving to America.
Milly Harvey – Mustangs Ahead
(LAKEWOOD RANCH, FL)- For this teenage girl, living in America has been a dream. I wasn’t born in this country and didn’t move to the United States until I was 11 years old. I grew up in England, about two hours south of London and all I ever wanted to do in my childhood was visit America.
My family and I travel a lot, but we had never travelled to America until we thought of moving here. I would spend my free time watching YouTube videos of kids going to Target and going to the gorgeous beaches – I never thought I would get to live there.
It certainly wasn’t easy.
In 2018, we tried to move to Lakewood Ranch, but we couldn’t get our house to sell. We spent about a year and a half renovating and fixing up our whole house to make it look perfect. By the time we had finished, it was around the time COVID hit and so everything became a lockdown.
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Because of the pandemic, our move to America was postponed by a couple years until February 2022 when we successfully managed to sell our house and relocate to the USA.
Once we moved, life became very different. The schools, the area, the weather, and the general lifestyle was different, but very welcoming. We found that America was everything we had dreamed of and more...apart from the terrible traffic.
The beautiful beaches and wonderful homes lured us in – we settled right at home.
Since moving here, I lost my accent, but I found God. I was never a Christian when I lived in England and had never gone to church, but once I came over to America, I found Bayside Community Church, and it was so welcoming to me and my family.
So, since moving over here me and my family have experienced a drastic yet unforgettable change in our lives and realized that America is the place for us to be.