Vernon, where most of the same families have grown up and gone to school together for generations, but even in a quiet place like Mt. Vernon, you meet people who are the polar opposite of how you were raised. With the expansion of travel and the integration of people of other nationalities, even small towns can no longer remain isolated from outside influence, which has proven to be a real culture shock for people whose lineage goes back at the time of the creation of the city. As such, the children of my generation had an exceptionally different upbringing at Mount Vernon than our parents. At least I know that my personal experience in high school led me to see the world in a new light. I entered high school as a freshman as most students do, full of their parents' beliefs and moral values, completely incapable of opinion or original thought. During high school, I had a total of three close friends, who ironically were completely opposed to me and each other.