Immokalee

In the Seminole language immokalee means "home." Though the Seminoles were the first to call Immokalee home, many people like cattle ranchers, farmers, pioneers, and migrant workers would eventually all call Immokalee home. Immokalee is a town that constantly changes, at first pioneers would trade with the native Seminoles and started a big cattle ranching town. Then Mayor Broward decided to drain the Everglades to make way for agriculture. The drainage caused Seminoles and other locals to find new ways of making a living. Not long after large reservoirs of oil were discovered which created numerous jobs for the people in Immokalee. Today Immokalee has a casino and an up and coming college that is putting it on the map. As time presses forward so will Immokalee and it will once again transform itself into something new.

I grew up in Boca Raton, FL and I definitely see a big difference between my home and Immokalee. Boca Raton means "mouth of rat" in Spanish, just a lovely name isn't it? Boca is known for its beaches which draws thousands of snowbirds every year during the winter season. Boca is also known for it's wealth and some of the big names that live there like Danny DeVito and Yanni. It's a place where on any given day I can see a Rolls Royce, a Lotus, someone being chauffeured in a limousine, and the Batmobile all in one place. Yes, we have the Batmobile, it's pretty freaking awesome! Most of the people in Boca are white, sometimes orange, and tend to be wealthy, old, or Jewish. Immokalee has more of a mix of different people who have assimilated in Immokalee through the years. One thing that both cities share in common is an interesting history. Boca Raton started out as three separate communities known as Pearl City, Ruby City, and Emerald City. Pearl City was the African American community, Ruby City was the Caucasian community, and Emerald City was the Japanese American Community. While both cities are different for the most part, they each bring something unique to the table.

I think Immokalee represents the ever-changing American Dream. As different races and cultures come to America, so do some interpretations of the American Dream. For Immokalee the first American Dream was raising cattle on the open ranges, then it became agriculture and the oil industry, and now it's become a place for tourism and higher education. As the times change so does Immokalee and it's American Dream. Over it's history people have come to live their American Dream in Immokalee because of all the different options it has had for people.

I see a few different industries that will drive Immokalee's future. The Seminole casino already brings in a good amount of tourism, but more tourism and money will be brought when the casino is expanded. People searching for higher education will come to Immokalee to attend the Ave Maria University. There is the airport in Immokalee that will grow and become a bigger stop for planes and the armed forces have a big chapter in Immokalee that will bring in more people to the area. Finally Immokalee still has a big agricultural business that continues to help the communtiy. Time will only make these industries bigger and better.

Immokalee never stays the same, the only things that seems to stay the same is change. Tens years from now Immokalee will be a large city people from all walks of life will visit and live there. There industries will be solid and have a big effect on the prosperity and growth Immokalee will come to see. Immokalee is like a diamond in the rough, it just needs to be polished and then it will become brilliant and vivacious. As time goes on Immokalee will only get better and truly make a name for itself.