Leaving the OC bubble

A recent high school graduate reflects on departing the only world she knows.

By Kayla Williams

Contributor to The Truth OC

Every local in Orange County has heard the term “Orange County bubble.” It’s the phrase used to describe the very specific kind of comfort—and the slightly weird version of “normal”—that comes with growing up here.

I am 18, freshly graduated from high school. As we speak, I’m still in the OC bubble, but I won’t be for much longer. Does that scare me? Yes. Does part of me not want to leave it? Also yes.

Am I going to do it anyway? Yes.

I think that those thoughts are pretty relatable to every OC teenager going off to college in the fall, whether they are moving to another state or merely a couple of hours away. We have all become used to the OC norms.

During the last few months I’ve learned how much living in the OC bubble has influenced me and most everyone else I know. Things that seem normal here (I have come to realize) are definitely not normal in other places.

In-N-Out as a baseline food group—not normal. Neither is the fact that we are willing to wait half an hour for what some people would consider a mediocre burger and salty fries. We swear it’s the best thing ever … because it is.

We don’t really think about it but, considering anything more than 25 minutes to be a long drive and having to emotionally prepare and pack snacks for any drive over 30 …

Very Orange County.

Having no seasons—except summer and cloudy—and whipping out a hoodie the second it gets into the 60s (freezing cold winter weather by Orange County standards). Wearing flip flops everywhere is like the official OC uniform, and somehow always being 15 minutes from the beach.

Not to mention, everyone here is in a college mindset. This one didn’t feel unusual to me because growing up here there has always been that underlying pressure to do well in school so you get into a good college.

Everyone takes honors and AP classes in high school and has a list of schools they are hoping to get into. And if someone isn’t going to a four-year university, they go to community college, which here many consider to be for the dumb kids, which is definitely not true (most of the time). It’s sometimes hard to remember that there are other options.

Since receiving my diploma, all of these things have become more noticeable as most of us graduates have started to view these normal aspects of life in OC as temporary. So, we look around and take in the comfort of what we consider “normal,” which might not be so normal in the next chapter of our lives.

Even though we haven’t left the Orange County bubble yet, the change in perspective that comes with graduating has made it a lot easier to see it. All the little things we never used to notice start to feel a little more specific to home.

And, truly, realizing this is probably the first step toward leaving the bubble itself.

Toward saying goodbye.

Kayla Williams is a recent Aliso Niguel High grad. She begins her freshman year at Arizona State in August. You can follow her on Instagram here.