Can
you remember your childhood home? How about the place where
you had your first kiss? Or the day you fell off your bike?
Or the endless time you played in the backyard with your friends?
The things we remember most are fresh in our minds even if they
occurred years ago. In our very own minds, we can remember what
is important to us, and we tend to cherish those memories. When
Dr. K first asked us to do a memory map of the places where
we grew up, for me it was like going back in time. Some places
held more vivid pictures for me, and others came and went in
a flash. It does not happen very often that someone wants to
know your childhood memories, but it was such a pleasure to
relive them.
My
teammates Debbie, Mag, and Vanessa and I decided to use this
memory map assignment to learn more about South Mountain Village
through the eyes of its children. I wanted to record landmarks
and places within the surrounding areas that made an impressive
mark on someone else’s life that would last a lifetime. As these
children are surrounded by the ever-changing pace of their own
neighborhood, some of these places could soon disappear, and
eventually may only be known through the memories they create.
Our
targeted school was St. Catherine of Siena Catholic School on
Central Ave and Southern. We arrived after the children’s lunch
hour as eight Hispanic children were already waiting for us.
We were escorted to the school’s cafeteria where the children
sat at the long portable tables. One of our team members took
on the responsibility of explaining to the children how to do
the memory maps. The kids did not seem to be too excited in
the beginning. Luckily, we had with us a sample of another memory
map and a story attached to it to help guide the children in
creating their own memory maps. Inspired by this model, the
kids worked as they chatted to each other. Towards the end of
our workshop, one student began to teach my teammate Debbie how
to walk, talk, and move in a more fashionable style. She was
tutored in how to say statements such as “Whaz’s up honey”, how
to arch one’s back to the side and walk with a limp! The kids
enjoyed the little entertainment that Debbie provided for them,
and in the end, we all shared a little something of ourselves.
The kids got excited when they learned that their memory maps
would be on the internet for all to see. The project became
more meaningful for the students because the idea of having their
memory maps on the Internet was very memorable.
We
had asked the children to all draw their homes and the surrounding
areas. As I began to compare their maps, Aimmee and Xanthe included
the South Mountain preserve in their pictures, as others included
their friends’ houses, church, the school, and local stores.
Everyone included a park or a dirt field where they and their
friend like to get together and hang out. Aimee calls this
a place where everyone can just “Kick-it”; Alyssa’s park is
“where we chill”; and Teresa calls it, “the chill place and kick-back
place”. Whatever the name, it is a place of social gathering,
one that may not even be found on a conventional map, or in
a conventional history of Phoenix. In an article, "Residential
Subdivision Identity in Metropolitan Phoenix," Blake and Arreola
explain the meaning of the surrounding landscapes. The authors
write, “Features of the residential development that are visible
from its automobile and foot paths, including attributes of
houses, yards, streets, and alleys. The identity refers to subjective
meanings in combination of name, themes, and landscape characterizes,”
(p. 24). As a result, the landscape, such as parks and dirt
fields in the children's maps, suggest modes of identity. “Often thought
to imply a sense of belonging to a particular group, identity
also encompasses the character or unique qualities of a place
that enhance the feelings of attachment.” This better explains why the social gathering
at these locations are very meaningful. The two memory maps
that contained the drawing of South Mountain fit with what Blake
and Arreola describe as common themes in naming projects or
subdivisions after an environmental identity. They state, “Natural features
that are seen as distinctive selling features, such as mountains,
are increasingly symbolized in subdivision names,” (p. 25). Thereby, the developers are using
the mountain is a continuing and preserving the mountain as part
of sacred landmark.
Although
every person will have a different memory of their hometown and
the places they lived, stores where they shopped, and parks they
played in, these memories stay with the person throughout life.
Whether the present or past is good or bad, one’s cognitive mapping
of their childhood’s town can bring profound memories. As we
grow older special landmarks, homes, or even stores may slowly
disappear with the ever-changing times, but what is in our minds
and hearts will stay with us forever.
References
Blake,
S. Kevin, and Arreola, D. Daniel. 1996. Residential Subdivision
Identity in Metropolitan Phoenix. Landscape Journal, 15 (1),
pages 23-35.
To view
similar work by my classmates: Vanesa, Magdalene, Deborah.