When the sky is still tinged with a blueblack, pre-sunrise darkness, Gabriel Sanchez (11) begins his morning routine. He wakes up at 5:45 a.m., showers, gets dressed, brushes his teeth, and then makes breakfast for himself and his 8th-grade brother. By 7:15 a.m., the two are out the door so that they can make the 35-minute commute from their home in North Escondido to their schools in Torrey Highlands. 

Sanchez’s routine hasn’t always looked like this. From 5th to 11th grade, his family lived in Park Village, which is less than a 10-minute drive from Westview. However, as their house’s rent price grew year after year, they were unable to keep up with the demand and needed to relocate their family in order to stay in California. Currently, the average median home price in California is $786,300, with a year-over-year growth rate up by 4.5% compared to 2022. In Rancho Peñasquitos specifically, the median rose 19.7% in 2023 to $1.3 million. 

“[Moving] had been in the back of my family’s mind for many months before we bought the house we live in now,” Sanchez said. “Our landlord was telling us about the increasing rent price, but it grew out of our control very quickly. When we found out we needed to move, we had one month’s notice in order to find somewhere new to live.” 

For a brief period of time, Sanchez’s family considered moving out of state, like 340,000 other California residents did in 2023. Later, they also debated moving to Northern California, where the housing prices in some areas would be cheaper. 

“I wanted to support my family’s decision, but we all knew how hard it would be to uproot our lives and move away from the people we knew and the lives we have [in San Diego],” Sanchez said. “Something that I was really concerned about was potentially moving schools in the middle of high school, and the conversation really started picking up [before the] middle of my junior year. I’ve been more involved in extracurriculars this year and I have connections with my teachers and I really didn’t want to leave those behind.”

With all this in mind, the Sanchez family chose to stay in Southern California. They had less than a month left in their rented home when they purchased a home in Escondido in October. 

Since making the move, it’s been more important to his family than ever that Sanchez has his driver’s license. 

“I have two working parents, so we knew before we made the move that a responsibility I would have to take on would be driving me and my brother to school every morning,” Sanchez said. 

Sanchez’s younger brother attends Mesa Verde Middle School, where school days start at 8 a.m. on regular days and at 8:50 a.m. on late-start Wednesdays. Because of this, Sanchez often arrives at school earlier than necessary and spends the spare 35 minutes between dropping his brother off and getting to school himself by studying at Peet’s Coffee or buying groceries for his family at Vons.

According to Sanchez, moving to Escondido has strengthened his time management skills.

“I definitely have to plan everything out and I have to be intentional about where I go because I only have so much time in a day to get somewhere and to get home,” Sanchez said. “I have a job, am taking some rigorous AP classes, my grandma moved in with us and I sometimes take care of her, and I just joined ASB this term, so I have a lot on my plate and a lot of planning to do to make sure I’m committed to all of those things.”

Sanchez also said his commute has challenged him to evaluate which extracurriculars he wants to devote his time to.

“I have to be realistic with myself with what I take on because I need to make sure that it works for not just my workload, but also for my little brother and family,” Sanchez said. “For example, I joined Mock Trial this year and there are meetings on Sundays from 1-3 so I have to be aware that that day is almost entirely blocked off so I can get to practices on time. I know I have to stay in the Peñasquitos area nearly all day if I want to make it to meetings on time and comfortably.”

While his commute to the Rancho Peñasquitos area can sometimes set limitations on his schedule, Sanchez is grateful that his family is able to stay in the greater San Diego area.

“Northern Escondido is much more rural and it’s a change of pace from what I’m used to, but overall I am thankful that my family made the move so I’m able to stay at Westview,” Sanchez said. “I’m glad that I’m able to still be involved with Westview clubs and classes as much as I can be, and I’m definitely more appreciative of being able to be in California.”