This week in my Humanities class at Palo Alto College we had the pleasure of hosting a guest speaker. She was a young lady about our age. She recently graduated from college and is now an active member of our local politics. She has a particular interest in protecting our aquifer. San Antonio has natural underwater aquifers and we rely on this aquifer for our water. However some people in our community believe making money takes priority over keeping our water clean. These people are contractors who want to develop high priced homes and shopping complexes in areas in our city that supply the aquifer with water. The more we develop these areas the more risk we run in polluting our water source. We as a community need to be more involved in our city’s politics so we can fight things that are harmful to our environment. I was glad the guest speaker opened my eyes to some of the things we need to keep an eye on as far as protecting the aquifer. She was quite impressive to me because most people our age are consumed with things not nearly as important as the things she is involved with. This was a positive experience to me and I was glad I took part in this experience.

I am involved in a Humanities class at Palo Alto College in San Antonio Texas. This class requires a series of essays covering different aspects of the city in which we live. We cover everything from the early history of San Antonio to the modern San Antonio in which we now live. This particular essay is going to be the most personal essay that I have been asked to do so far. We are asked to go more in depth and discuss the particular part of San Antonio in which we live. San Antonio is a large metropolitan area and the culture from area to area can be vastly different. I personally don’t even live in San Antonio however I live just a few miles out of San Antonio so I still consider myself a San Antonian. I will now go more in depth on my neighborhood in order for you to get a better feel of the person that I am and where I come from.

I live in Pleasanton Texas. Pleasanton is a town that has about 10000 residents. There are also two smaller towns that are about five miles from Pleasanton. These smaller towns are Poteet which has about 3600 residents and Jourdanton which has about 3200 residents. All three of these towns since they are so close are referred to as the tri city-area. To get to Pleasanton from San Antonio is not that hard. Palo Alto College is on the South Side of San Antonio. From Palo Alto College you will get on Highway 16 south and go about twenty miles. You will come to the town of Poteet which I mentioned earlier. You are very close to Pleasanton once you get to Poteet. Once the speed reduces to 45 miles on Highway 16 in Poteet you will see a Dairy Queen on the left side of the road. Take a left hand turn right before the Dairy Queen. You are now on Farm Road 476 this road will take you to Pleasanton.

Pleasanton is a working class town and is not as diverse as a big city like San Antonio. I think most of the people that live in Pleasanton commute to San Antonio to work. We do have a hospital here so there are a few skilled professionals that stay here in town to work. I would say that the racial makeup of Pleasanton is about 60% white 35% Hispanic and about 5% other consisting of African American, Asian and other. For the most part the houses in Pleasanton are medium sized houses for working class families. For the most part these homes are well maintained. There are about three neighborhoods in Pleasanton which I would consider Upper class neighborhoods. The homes in these neighborhoods are large, new and very well landscaped. My parents are business owners and are fairly well off and me and my family live here with my parents.

My neighborhood is one of the three upper class neighborhoods here in Pleasanton. My house is a large five bedroom three bath brick home. The yard is landscaped nicely with shrubs and new trees to go with a bunch of potted flowers. For the most part my neighbors are white. The neighborhood I live in has about 65 homes and all but maybe 5 are white families. Most of the people who live here are middle aged professionals with either teenagers or college aged kids. There are a few younger couples here with young children.

There are not that many things to do for fun here in Pleasanton. We are a small town so you can expect it to be pretty boring. However the fact that it is a small boring town is part of the charm of living here. We have a very low crime rate here in fact we have only had three murders here in the last twenty five years. Everybody knows each other here so you get a real sence of community which is also nice. If you want to have fun you simply make the twenty five mile drive to San Antonio and now you have access to all commodities of a large city. We get the best of both worlds small town living with a large city close by to satisfy all you leisure needs. Yes I have to commute to San Antonio to school but for me a twenty five mile drive is not that bad. I hope you now have a better idea of the place I lay my head when I’m not a school. It is a nice quiet town that I really like to live in and I would not have it any other way.

The Alamo Essay 2

I have lived in the San Antonio area for about ten years now. San Antonio is a very interesting city with a lot of historical significance. San Antonio is especially important when you talk about the Texas revolution. As many people know the battle of the Alamo was fought here. This battle was a crucial one in the Texas revolution. This battle is not significant because of the number of Texas fighters that fought there. As a matter of fact the Alamo only had 187 men in its walls when the battle was fought. The Alamo is not significant because of the number of Mexican soldiers that were killed either. The Alamo was a significant battle in Texas independence for a number of other reasons. I will discuss the reasons why the Alamo was such an important battle in the following paragraph.

Now why would a battle with only 187 men on one side fighting be a significant battle? Can you even call that a battle? Yes the Alamo was indeed a battle not because of the number of participants but because of the amount of time it bought the rest of the Texas army. The Mexican army marched into Texas in the early part of the year 1836. They were here for only one reason and that was to crush the Texas army and quell the uprising. The Mexican army fought two battles here in Texas before arriving in San Antonio. The Mexican army ran over the small Texas forces before arriving in San Antonio. The leader of the Texas forces in San Antonio was Colonel William Travis. Travis knew that the Mexican army that was before him was much too large for the 187 men to defeat. He told the men about the odds they were facing and told the men there would be no shame to anyone who decided to flee. However the men all decided to stay and fight. This is where the legend of the Alamo was born. This decision by the Texas forces in San Antonio to stay and fight bought the main Texas army led by Sam Houston the time they needed to train and prepare. This time was critical to the Texan’s and ultimately helped Sam Houston and his army defeat the Mexican army. This is why the Alamo was such an important battle in Texas history.

These facts that I have just told you I learned while taking history classes in college. Most people know about the battle of the Alamo because they have watched the movie. There have been several movies depicting the Alamo to come out over the years. Probably the most famous version of the Alamo starred the legendary John Wayne. You have to be careful when you watch The Alamo on the movie screen. You will not get the whole story if you watch the movie. The movies about the Alamo show the same thing. The Anglo men at the Alamo all killing a hundred men a piece. These are fictional events being portrayed and they are not the truth. The truth is many people were involved in this struggle including many native Tejanos who are Texans of Mexican descent. Without their contributions Texas would not have gained their independence. If you want to get a good idea about the whole picture of this battle you are better off reading a book which is nonfiction rather than watching a fictionalized movie of the Alamo.