Stephanie Rodriguez

Professor Gifford
March 22,2014
English 114B

Spaces: The Valley

I remember the professor asking, What do you think when you hear the word space? I
replied, Stars. There are many different types of ways one can use space, and see space. There
are many different interpretations to what Space really is. Space can we seen as a school, a park,
a space of work, a space for socialization. There are infinite spaces in our world. The space that I
will be talking about, is known as The Valley. The valley is a place where I grew up. It is a
place where I attended school, drove my first car, the space where I spent moments with family
and friends. The valley is also known as a Salad Bowl or Melting Pot. There are so many
reasons why the Valley was given these two names. The main reason why is because the
different cultures, and races, and social classes that at the end of the day, are all mixed together
as one. We are all different yet so alike when we come together as one.
The Valley is a place where people are classified just by hearing the city of where a
person lives in. There are different cites in the valley, that are used as walls to divide people by
using space. A person can be defined as rich if they live in Malibu, Hollywood, Bell Air, Studio


City. Others who live in San Fernando, Northridge,Sylmar,Valencia, would be seen as middle
class people. What makes these places what they are, are the people that live in them. These
places are defined by the people who live in them. Spaces are used as a form of division.
Through spaces in the valley we see the way a neighborhood, or a city can be used as a form of
self division from the big world, into the small world. The Big world is the Valley as a whole,
the big picture is that we are all one. That at the end of the day we all come together as one. We
all end up using the same roads, and streets, the same free-ways in order to get to our destination.
But the part where we are being classified is where we live, the space where we work.
I grew up in the city named Sylmar. Where I was able to have a great childhood. I am
very fortunate to have been able to have grown up, in the neighborhood that I did. I look back to
my early years and realize how great my neighborhood was. I remember bonding with my
neighbors and being invited to family parties. I grew up in a closed community, where the streets
were safe, and the streets were clean. I was seen as a fortunate child. I believe that these spaces.
The spaces where one lives doesn't define a person. The person defines themselves. Although
people think differently. People now a days believe that the place where one lives defines a
person. Those people are the ones who believe that space has more meaning than it really does.
Space at the end of it all, is really at it is, space. Space can either be seen as a negative or a
positive thing. The way people use space and allow space to define them, is definitely negative.
Negative because space is used to see a person. We are divided by space on a daily basis.
Sometimes the way space is used to separate peoples lives isn't something I would consider fair.
People should learn to look beyond the city space a person lives in.
If we allow space to define us, we are allowing these spaces to grow bigger, and allow
the boundaries to expand, and separate people from the things that least matter which is money.


The valley is filled with different communities that are represented by the amount of money a
person has. Money is what makes the world go round. Spaces have to stop being used as just
borders. These communities, and neighborhoods are seen as boarder lines. These boarder lines,
we built with the amount of money a person has. Things like this must change because, we
should all be seen as equal.