Edwardsburg, Michigan, a small town just like any other. Students in class seven hours a day, five days a week. Club meetings, band rehearsals, sports practices, art displays, etc. Friday nights in autumn were spent in the student section of the football stadium cheering on our boys of fall. When winter rolled around, Saturdays were spent with wrestling tournaments all day, and trips to Swiss Valley Ski and Snowboard Area. Spring brought musical rehearsals, finals, graduation and finally, it was summer again. But what separates Edwardsburg from any other small town on the map is that this is the town where I grew up.

They say, "It takes a village to raise a child" and that's something that holds true with Edwardsburg. With a population around 1,250, Edwardsburg isn't even considered to be a town, but a village. In this village, everyone knows everyone. I grew up knowing all the same people since kindergarten. New students were rare, and when they came along, it was something everyone knew about. This is the place where I met my lifelong friends and where I learned the difference between right and wrong. Not to mention, nothing beat showing up and displaying our Eddie Pride.

Only kids from small towns truly understand how special they actually are. In Edwardsburg, nothing compares to homecoming. It's the time when the whole town comes together. The week is filled with all kinds of things to do. Float building takes place the entire week and is a long-standing tradition. The Bonfire Wednesday night is where the football players get introduced, the band plays with pride and everyone shows their Eddie spirit. The day of homecoming is like no other. Students sit in class, just itching for when they get dismissed for the pep-assembly and the parade that follows. And then that night everyone comes together to cheer on our boys of fall under the Friday night lights. Those lights seem to shine brighter that night than all others, illuminating the orange in the stands and our players' blue uniforms on the field.

As I prepare to return back to this little town, there'll probably be numerous things that I'll reminisce on. Maybe I'll go pay a visit some of my favorite teachers or see some old classmates. Perhaps as I enter through the front doors and walk the halls that I used to roam every day, a wave of memories will come back. I'll recall where my sophomore year locker was, or remember dancing the night away with my girl friends in the old gym at Winter Formal senior year. Maybe I'll even reminisce on standing in the atrium on graduation day, preparing to walk into the new gym as a student for the last time.

I couldn't be more proud of where I come from. This town, this school, these people gave me so many opportunities to shine. Nothing compared to performing with the color guard at football games, and fall and winter competitions. I loved laughing with my friends at prom as we sang the wrong words to the songs that were playing. Going to baseball and softball games in anything from snow to 80-degree weather, supporting the kids performing in the fall play or the spring musical, handing out candy to kids at Spook-a-Thon, even Monday nights spent at Lunkers for Wing Night were all staples for our town and ones that I loved every second of. And when worse comes to worse and tragedy strikes our community, we all stand together, feeling the event as a connected whole, rather than as separate entities.

So thank you, Edwardsburg, for being a place for me to grow into who I will be for the rest of my life. You allowed me to make lifelong friends and to have the time of my life doing so. You helped prepare me for my future in pursuing my college degree. But most importantly, you taught me what it is to have a place to call home, a place that will catch you when you fall, a place that will celebrate your accomplishments with you and a place to always go back to. And a special thank you to the EHS Class of 2015, you guys have been by my side since kindergarten. We laughed together, we cried together, and I could not have asked for a better group of people to have by my side for 13 years.