By Amy Lopez
Family members, childhood friends, former classmates and vintage memories now
engrave and pave the stories throughout my neighborhood. Generations of young leaders are built and founded within the community.
As each blossoms into adulthood, we yearn to stay within the area in order to give back to the community that built us. We aim to create an everlasting impact as we return with the degrees and experiences we have gathered along the way as though we are picking and gathering wildflowers and placing them into our wicker baskets. We encourage others in every way possible, we drench our blood and sweat into our futures, and we love endlessly!
For 18 years, my family and I have plastered the walls and filled the air with loving memories ranging anywhere from friendly door knocks inviting childhood friends to come outside and play to laughter from our game nights playing Scrabble and hosting karaoke nights.
My sister and I have called this neighborhood our home from the very start, and our community has served us justice in every stage of our life. The teachers taught their hardest, the mothers watched after each other’s children, the friendships were wholehearted, and the parents chose the best path for each of their children to express that hard work pays off in the end.
The community resembles a close-knit family where each individual has a role and impact, whether it is massive or tiny.
My parents and family members always encouraged me to take the right path and make the best decisions in life regardless of the drug abuse, poverty and negative influences surrounding the environment where we were raised.
Throughout my life, my mother always explained how proud she was of me and never failed to explain the importance of higher education. As I soaked in the advice at a young age, I stepped up to the plate like an artist stepping up to a blank canvas, and I made the most of my education along with my classmates.
At the age of 18, I will receive my high school diploma and an associate degree in art. In the fall, I will attend a four-year university in order to complete my bachelor’s degree in graphic design.
My overall mission is to use my passion for art to design media for small businesses, churches and organizations within my neighborhood.
As I grow older, I realize the impact families have had not only on their own households and children but their surrounding neighbors. We are encouraged to be our ancestor’s wildest dream in Fort Worth.
As generations grow, the neighborhood continues to expand and evolve in spotted areas, but this neighborhood continues to preserve the homes, morals, love, historic beauty and so much more that each individual has memorized like the back of their hand, and that has built me from day one.
Amy Lopez is a high school senior at Marine Creek Collegiate High School and attends Tarrant County College Northwest. She is involved in Latinas in Progress, Redemption City Church, Green Club, Tarrant Area Food Bank among other organizations. She enjoys art and volunteering within her community.
South Hills
Total population: 892
Female: 46% | Male: 54%
Age
0-9: 25%
10-19: 13%
20-29: 12%
30-39: 17%
40-49: 7%
50-59: 6%
60-69: 10%
70-79: 6%
80 and older: 3%
Education
No degree: 53%
High school: 20%
Some college: 17%
Bachelor’s degree: 8%
Post-graduate: 2%
Race
White: 7% | Hispanic: 90% | Black: 3%
Click on the link to view the schools’ Texas Education Agency ratings:
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