“California,” by Tom Petty, describes the atmosphere in which I grew up. I grew up in Southern California, a place unlike any other place in the world. The turmoil that surrounded me all the time forced me to fight hard to find out where I belonged. The high school I attended was huge with almost 4,000 students. The school, however, was built for 1,200 people. Everywhere you looked, there was a sea of ​​students that you couldn't escape. Transition times had to be extended so you could get to the next class without getting crushed by crowds of students. My high school was so large that it allowed students, with their parents' permission, to go off campus to eat lunch. This allowed us to escape to a safe haven, away from the hustle and bustle of daily life in a high school of 4,000 people. Another sea of ​​people I remember was the sea of ​​red when 1,000 people graduated from my high school in 2002. I even remember the sea of ​​parents surrounding us on both sides of the stadium and watching us like hawks . In high school, as in life most of the time, I feel like I'm just a number. I am numbered everywhere; my driver's license, my social security number, and even my sorority have their number for me. The song “California” shows how dynamic California is. Petty knows that California is unique and produces many different types of people. This is evident in "California" when Petty repeatedly uses the