Mae - I am New Orleans

What does one think of when they think of New Orleans? Mardi Gras? Crazy parties? The French Quarter? Well the first thing I think of is diversity. Everyone in New Orleans is different and unique, and I love New Orleans for that. We have our high class snobs, our wannabe ghetto Westbankers, our laid back suburbians, our Cajuns, our eccentric French Quarter residents, and the list could go on and on. Yes, New Orleans is very diverse like many other cities, but what makes New Orleans different is the fact that we all work together in perfect harmony. Every type of person respects the other for being who they are. Everyone loves the diversity. We love the fact that during Mardi Gras, we can look out into the crowd and see so many different kinds of people all having a good time together and enjoying each other’s company. New Orleans is one of a kind.

What I believe makes me so New Orleans is how my life is so diverse. I go to a school that is in the heart of uptown and experience many ”uptown” activities, such as eating at Kyoto as a special treat, riding the streetcar to your nearest destination, or the daily Pinkberry visits. I also get to experience something very unique to New Orleans: being a maid in a parade. I am on a dance team for Jesuit High School and get to show my inner “Westbank” and get to act cheesy for a couple of hours a day. My family owns a camp in the middle of the swamps of Louisiana. I get to experience the life out on the bayou, enjoying the abundant nature that Louisiana supplies. I love how I can go duck hunting in the early morning on the bayou, dance practice at noon, and a formal dinner at the Windsor Court that same night. No other city in the world could let an individual be so diverse. I am an uptown girl. I am a cheesy Westbanker. I am a bayou-loving redneck. I am a royal maid in Babylon. I am unique. I am different. I am diverse. I am New Orleans.

Mae, age 17