My Thoughts on Growing up in Framingham

If you go to a private college and meet somebody from Massachusetts, I'm sure you're used to hearing them say, "I'm from Boston." With rare exceptions (I'm sure this comes as a shock to everybody), they're not actually from Boston. I try to identify myself as a resident of the town I was born and raised in. Most people have probably never heard of Framingham, Massachusetts. However, for me, there was not a place in the world I would've rather spent my youth.

To get an understanding of Framingham, you can't really imagine one subset of people. It was not largely filled with Jewish people, although there were plenty of Bar/Bat Mitzvahs that I attended growing up. There were not a lot of upper class neighborhoods, although some of the houses in some of the areas were tremendous in stature. Ethnic diversity was a common theme. In my homeroom in high school, there were two other white kids and myself, one black kid, two Brazilians, two Puerto Ricans, one Mexican, and one Columbian. To any and all of the people in my homeroom, if I am mistaken about your ethnicity or nationality, I apologize. My point is, I experienced more culture in the first 15 minutes of school every day than some people experience in a lifetime.

The social differences were similar. I mentioned some of the more affluent areas of the town, but there are also plenty of areas that are not the most ideal place to grow up. Poverty is prevalent in Framingham, as in many other parts of the country. The thing that makes Framingham so distinct is that I met people from all sorts of backgrounds. Everybody had a different story to tell, and we all will have different conclusions. I feel like many other towns have "themes" so to speak as to its residents. The one uniting theme from Framingham residents was just that: we are all from Framingham.

It's a really cool thought, and one that I think most people I grew up with take for granted. I grew up in a town with over 70,000 people, from all sorts of walks of life. My four best friends in high school were comprised of a Kenyan, a Haitian, an Irish Catholic, and a red head. Good news for everyone, gingers do have souls. The five of us were a prime example of what Framingham had to offer.

Framingham certainly has its downsides (if anyone has been following the sexual assault cover up by the school administration, you can attest to that). But it certainly provided an average, white middle class, American male with a childhood worth documenting. I'm sure many people I grew up with like to think about how they cannot wait get out of here, I'm trying to enjoy what could potentially be the last three months of me living here.

I don't know where I will be in 2 years, let alone when I decide to settle down and start a family. However, I certainly hope that wherever I end up provides my children with the same learning experiences that I was afforded.