Ashlee Polarek  |  PR Manager

I grew up with the big white A looming over the city. I grew up with the sound of the elote man’s horn and the noise that the wheels of his stolen shopping cart made as they broke the quiet summer air. I grew up with local gang Azusa 13’s carefully crafted graffiti painted on walls and the sides of houses.

For many people at Azusa Pacific University, Azusa is just the city where APU is located. It’s a short four-year stop before moving back to their real home or a new place altogether. But for me, and several others, Azusa is the one place we all know–it’s our home in the summer and our home during school, and it was our home while we grew up.

We experienced the College Headed and Mighty Proud (CHAMP) program, we saw the come and go of APU students every year and we graduated high school in the Felix Event Center. We are the Azusa Scholars, a group of people who for some reason just can’t get enough of everything from A to Z in the USA.

Growing up in a city and then going to college there generates an interesting dilemma, especially when I think about what home is to me and what my home looks like to others on campus. Some APU students will claim Azusa as their home, which is fine because by dictionary definition, home is where someone is currently residing. But to me, Azusa as home is so much more than a place of residence. It’s a place full of memories and family and pride.

When it’s the first day of class and everyone goes around the room sharing their name, year and where they’re from, I’m a bit jealous that I don’t get to share the name of some far-off city that sounds exciting and new. Then I remember that many current students at APU don’t know what Azusa is actually like. They know the small bubble that surrounds the campus, and they know what they’ve heard in chapel, but they don’t really know Azusa.

So welcome to Azusa, or the Azusa that I’ve known. Azusa’s 9.13 square miles of city is populated by 46,361 people, according to the 2010 census. It was founded in 1887 and is located 27 miles northeast of Los Angeles.

Azusa is where I saw the first “Harry Potter” movie at the Foothill Drive-In Theater before it was turned into a massive parking lot and the Segerstrom Science Center. It’s where I camped in the Azusa Canyon and where everyone would go cheer on friends in the Azusa Golden Days Parade. It was elementary, middle and high school.

Amidst the somewhat healthy school rivalries, homecoming dances and amazing Fourth of July celebrations, I never thought Azusa needed charity work. Not that I was blind to hardships and poverty, broken homes and the array of other situations that happen in every city, but I had never heard of Azusa being so broken and in need of help as much as I had my first year at APU.

Growing up, the saying was, “Oh, APU. It’s where all the rich white kids live.” When I found out that I was accepted to APU and into the Azusa Scholars program during my senior year at Azusa High School, I was terrified to tell any of my friends because I didn’t want to be seen as the rich white kid, which I’m not.

Then when I arrived freshman year at APU, I learned what people really thought about my city, our city. Apparently, it needed APU’s help and we needed go out and save all the at-risk kids in the broken homes. I remember sitting in class and a student said, “No one from Azusa really does anything. They need our help and our tutoring, and most of them won’t graduate.”

After angrily defending the city, I realized that APU needs to know the truth behind Azusa. That’s what the Azusa Scholars program is about. We the people of Azusa, California come to study at APU, serve in our community and thrive in academics. We provide answers to questions people have about Azusa and we say hello to APU. We are Azusa. We come from all walks of life. We are of different races and ethnic backgrounds, of different financial backgrounds and family situations, and Azusa is home.

Azusa is beautiful. It’s home to a culture all of its own. It’s home to city pride and friendly people. It’s home to young students who are smart and driven. It’s home to athletes, veterans, families and small businesses. It’s home to a river and a beautiful canyon. It’s home to historical landmarks and people from every nation.

And now, Azusa is home to APU students who should take pride in their city. Yes, Azusa needs God’s love, and it needs gracious, understanding APU students serving alongside its residents. But before people think of Azusa as an outreach project or their next mission trip, they should think of Azusa as home.

Home, where the mayor knows your name and the local coffee shop knows your order. Home, where children play in the streets and families celebrate holidays together. Home, where people have lived in the city their whole lives and basically everyone knows or is related to everyone.  Azusa is home, and it’s everything from A to Z in the USA.