Sixteenth birthday. It was then that I discovered I was moving fifteen hundred miles

from South Florida to a small town called Port Jervis in New York. Immediately, I realized how different the weather, people, and landscape was in this new environment compared to the place I had always called home.

The first major difference I noticed was the change in weather. Living in the "Sunshine State" all of my life, I became spoiled with its year round tropical climate. I was used to the warm, sunny days and the clear, moonlit nights. From March until October I could always count on plenty of days to keep up my tan. The first summer in New York, I soon learned that if I wanted to stay tan I needed to make regular trips to the local tanning salon. Even though the sun would shine from time to time, it never seemed to do the job. Instead, it was just hot, miserable, and loaded with bugs. The winters in New York were even worse. I had always thought of snow as white cotton balls falling from the sky. I pictured snowball fights and toboggan rides and all the other things

The next major difference between the two states I had to overcome was the people. Although I had my entire family surrounding me, which I did not have in the past, I still missed my friends from Florida. Being a new student in a small town high school was hard enough, but having no companions was more challenging. I felt like such an outcast because, in all actuality, I was. They all had known each other since they were babies, like I had known my friends from back home. They had their own style of clothing, language, and hobbies that southerners were not used to. I was use to going to beach, out in the boat, or to the mall. Their idea of fun was to go rafting in frigid water and hangout in old deserted barns. Because of that, I had a very difficult time adjusting to my new peers. I knew that eventually I would make new friends but first I had to stop comparing them to the one's I would never forget.

In conclusion, every place in the United States has a variety of differences to offer. Moving from a state that I have known as my home for my entire life to a place where the weather, landscape, and people are entirely different is a goal to achieve in itself. I now can say that I have had the opportunity to know two sides from a very

The last

Some common words found in the essay are:
March October, Instead Florida's, York Immediately, , Living Sunshine, South Florida, Florida York, major difference, 50 degrees, difference noticed, major difference noticed,
Approximate Word count = 852
Approximate Pages = 3 (250 words per page double spaced)