The First

My name is Faro Benitez I have been living in New York City for over
Seven years. I grew up in a small village in southern part on the Philippines Called Davao City in Asia where everything is away from the city. For 14 years I was in the Philippines growing up as the only child with my grandparents and my cousins whom I consider them brothers and sisters, all 17 of them. In My first year of high school in the Philippines I suddenly found out my mom who I haven’t seen since I was born informed me that she will be taking me to New York in America. At that age I was old enough too decided for my self but lack in specific knowledge and it was the hardest decision I had to make, in the end it was for the best.
Growing up in the Philippines was very interesting experience and of course I would never wish for anything else. Comparing Davao and New York City is like comparing night and day, one the most obvious element is that New York City is a more diverse area, it has more people, skyscraping buildings that blew my mind the first time I came to New York. Davao City on the other hand is called a city but it’s not much of a city it is more of a raw version of any suburban area here in America where most roads are not concrete. Back in the Day if one of the street in our village has a concrete road we automatically felt awe in amazement because those kind of development a very rare thing that happens where I grew up with my cousins and grandparents. Davao City was a very slow area to grow up with but it was very simple and people who lived there wants nothing more than simple things like getting to work and enjoying what they have.
Going to school in the Philippines was a very interesting experience also; I get to experience high school in both Davao and New York City. The biggest difference in education between New York City and Davao, Philippines is the difficulty, not only it is academically tough but the environment surrounding my campus in Davao is very intense. Education in the Philippines is very hectic, students are required to have school uniforms everyday and that means everybody need to wear the same materials for their pants, shirts, socks and boys need to have the same hair cut which is a school approved clean cut and if u miss one of those requirements believe it or not you will be either be in parents conference or be expelled if u resist. Academically in the Philippines for me was very frustrating students cover New York high school level in elementary. All those elements really shaped me up when I was young and coming here in New York City really made me happy that for once in my life school was Fun.