I thought I knew San Diego better when I was 15, before I could drive.
Walking was my most advantageous disadvantage – leading to conversations with strangers, learning the sidewalks and the trees that lined them. Getting a car was gaining a bubble. It was one less reason to make eye contact with someone.
You need a car to function in San Diego. And in a social climate that feels increasingly isolating, plagued by glass screens, shrinking third spaces, and AI, The San Diego Sun was refreshing in its dependence on human interaction. Rather than simply existing in San Diego, my internship forced me to interact with downtown San Diego.
It was a reason to walk again. The Sun was an excuse to traverse the city I grew up in with intention. This internship got me to confront the community.
I began my first article focusing on fathers in San Diego, asking them “What’s your favorite part about being a dad?” I held up a neon green poster at Waterfront Park.
It’s funny how the solution to a loneliness epidemic can be as simple as walking around with a green sign. I was approached by many enthusiastic fathers, sharing memories, lessons and details about fatherhood and love. I learned about a child’s favorite stuffed animal, a daughter who communicates nonverbally and met dads who love unconditionally.
And though Father’s Day was my introduction to walking in San Diego, it wasn’t where the connection stopped. For every story that followed I walked in different footsteps: getting into the headphones of runners at Seaport Village; sitting next to commuters on MTS busses and trolleys; roller skating by the ocean at the birthplace of an up-and-coming skate rink; watching cosplayers demonstrate their craftsmanship in preparation for Comic-Con.
I learned that being a San Diegan is to get out of the car. To play with your daughters on the swingset, to jog by the bay with your headphones on, to drink coffee from the local coffee shop, to practice drumming on the sidewalk, to ride the bus, to answer when a reporter interrupts your flow to ask you some questions for a San Diego Sun story.
I thought I knew San Diego better when I was 15, walking to school, the library, the park, with my feet learning the pavement and the snails that crossed in the morning. But this internship corrected that narrative. San Diego is its infrastructure, but the largest contribution to the landscape is the community.
Thank you San Diego Sun for giving me a reason to walk through it, again. SDSun
Interested in an internship at The San Diego Sun? Reach out to the editor at: rondonoho@gmail.com.
