The sounds of the Sacramento River flow and sight of the California capitol are now nothing but faded memories for senior Reagan Owens. After moving to Yukon earlier this summer from Elk Grove, California, the visions of her hometown soon became replaced by the Yukon flour mill and Saturday afternoon tornado sirens.
“One day in February my parents were just like okay we are going to move,” Owens said. “That was pretty stressful because they said they would wait until after my younger sister graduated to move .”
Owens’ parents had wanted to make the move out of California for some time and with family in Mustang and Deer Creek, Yukon became their new destination to settle down.
During summer breaks, Owens and her friends would talk about their hopes for senior year, what graduation would be like, and planning their graduation parties.
“It’s really disappointing,” Owens said. “I won’t get to walk across the stage with the people that I’ve known since freshman year or have my teacher call out my name. It seems super small, but it’s not to me.”
With college decisions being a big part of senior year, Owen’s situation has forced her to reconsider the plans she once had for attending college.
“I always planned on going to college outside of where I lived,” Owens said. “I didn’t want to go to a school like Sacramento State, I wanted to go somewhere in the bay area or Southern California or even just the West Coast in general, but now that’s changed a little bit. I’ve started looking at more schools around here.”
Despite the distance between her and friends back home in California, Owens wants to make the best out of the situation and still try to get the most out of her senior year.
“I want to meet more people so I can do everything I’ve looked forward to doing my senior year like hanging out with friends on the weekend, going to football games, basketball games, those kinds of things,” Owens said. “ I’m just trying to find the right kinds of people.”