I am from a place different than Oklahoma. On the weekends in Oklahoma, we spend quality time with each other. We sit around a room and talk. Sometimes we go out to eat some of Oklahoma’s amazing food. The food is delicious here. It’s barbecue and queso everywhere you go.
The wind blows my hair into a tangled mess. The humidity makes my face oily and I drip sweat the minute I walk outside. Some days it’s 85 degrees in the morning and 32 degrees by 2 p.m.
Oklahoma City is life altering for a boy from Las Vegas. The politics are different, the majority of people go to church, and people talk and live differently. When I go home, my entire family hates me for adding “y’all” into every sentence.
Oklahoma is my home now. I have been an Okie for three years and will continue to be one until I graduate in December.
We should take care of our homes because we have to live in them. But, for some in Oklahoma, that isn’t the case.
My home is not at its best. Wildfires rage through the plains. Almost every day, our campus is on a fire watch warning. Actors, singers and athletes need their lungs for their professions. As we roam campus, we breathe in these harmful toxins from the smoke without even knowing it.
The weather spikes are becoming more extreme. When our President tweeted “We could use a little bit of that good old Global Warming” because it was cold in December, he got his wish. Except he didn’t get global “warming,” he got climate change. In Oklahoma, it may be 80 degrees, but it will hail for a continuous 15 minutes over campus. The temperature dropped 40 degrees last week within a matter of hours. I’m not a meteorologist, but that sounds dangerous.
After the teacher walkout shut down schools for two weeks, our Oklahoma legislature decided greed was more important than providing teachers with livable pay and students with usable textbooks and classroom materials.
Fracking continues to plague the beautiful Oklahoma landscape. As big oil companies rip fossil fuels from the ground, they push all the excess dirt and water back in. This causes the shifting of the soil and is why Oklahoma now has more frequent earthquakes than California.
Oklahomans, you deserve better. You are a strong people. Some of the friendliest and most genuine people I know live here, and my heart breaks as I watch greed and corruption bleed this state.
My goal isn’t to shame any particular Oklahoma politicians, but to plead with all of them. We are not fools. We see what’s going on. They’re all up for re-election soon, and people are angry. Oklahoma Senate, you disrespect the teachers of Oklahoma, the children of Oklahoma, the landscape of Oklahoma, and the pride of Oklahoma.
Something unexpected has happened in the last year. While Las Vegas is my favorite city in the world, Oklahoma City has crept its way into my heart. I love my home, and I care about it, but I’m leaving soon. It is my intention to leave Oklahoma better than I found it. As always, I don’t have the magic answer–well, in a sense I do–elect democrats. Democrats will get teachers the funding they deserve, fix roads, step up on environmental protections, and put the children first.
Oklahoma needs comprehensive change. Let’s give this state the help it deserves.
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