Haley Tiepelman

During Shannon Creemans fifth hour English I class, Lopez and freshmen Kaithlyn Upchurch and Armani Moore review Upcurch’s pictures on Oct. 25.

Freshman Breahna Lopez moved 2000 miles away from her friends and family in California, in June, because her father received a job transfer.

“At first I was just like why is my dad doing this to me? I miss my friends, family and the weather…and Mexican food because it is so much better in California,” she said.

The stereotypes that Lopez’s friends told her about Missouri were wrong.

“[I heard] that everyone was really peppy and happy. Also everyone told me I would come back with a country accent and a redneck boyfriend,” she said.

Lopez started school late, starting two weeks after Parkway’s start date.

“Everybody thought I was a sophomore in freshmen classes. When people asked where I was from, and I said California, they asked if I was as stuck up as in the movies,” she said.

Because of the constant warm weather in California West is different from Lopez’s school old school.

“It was an outdoor school. You walked from class to class, even if it was raining,” she said.

Lopez also experienced a culture shock she wasn’t expecting when moving here.

“I am the only Hispanic in the freshmen class, and in California there are a ton of Hispanic people,” she said.

School and leaving friends and family were not the only hard things involved with moving to Missouri for Lopez.

“The transition from warm hardcore [weather] in California to soft bipolar weather in Missouri was pretty bad,” she said.

Although Lopez likes Missouri so far, she still has some reserves about leaving her home state of California.

“I guess I still wished I lived in California.  I don’t have any family in Missouri,” she said.

Although Lopez misses her family and the way of life in California she is adjusting to life in Missouri.

“ Yeah I do like it here.  People are just more friendly and actually seem like they want to be your friend,” she said.