I grew up in a small town in Southern Virginia where everyone knows each other, most married couples were high school sweethearts, and hanging out with your friends meant driving around and looking for something to do. It may seem like a cliché country song, but I wouldn't trade growing up in Small Town, U.S.A. for anything in the world.

Coming to such a large college came as quite a shock to me, especially because I graduated from a high school class of fifty students. I realized very quickly that I was not alone on this journey from small town to college town. I have met many other students who have had the same experiences as me. Here are just a few signs that I've found from my life and the lives of my fellow small town natives in a big college town.

1. High school football was more than just a sport. It was a way of life.

2. The county fair and any other festival was the highlight of the year. Basically, any excuse to eat and see people you know was always welcome.

3. A good weekend was spent driving around and meeting friends at the local hangout spot. Every small town has one. Ours just so happens to be the Dairy Queen and the Taco Bell parking lot.

4. Knowing your high school teachers for most of your life was the norm.

5. You were related to at least one other person at your school, and teachers would often call younger siblings by the name of their older siblings.

6. Since being at college, you miss being in the local newspaper almost every other week. From the Honor Roll list to any accomplishment you made at school, you were sure to get at least a picture in the paper.

7. Seeing unfamiliar faces around campus is odd because you are used to knowing everybody’s name (and life story).

8. You are proud of where you came from, even if no one else at college has ever heard of it. In order to save your NOVA friends from confusion, you use the largest city near you as your hometown.

9. Your town has high expectations of you. They expect you to do great things once you leave, and sometimes you can definitely feel that pressure to succeed.

10. When you go home, you don’t go back to just your family, you go back to a community that loves and misses you. Everyone still supports you, and they are proud to say that they helped you grow into the person that you are today.

My home may not be one of the biggest cities in Virginia, but it has the biggest place in my heart. Everything that I have, I owe to the small town that raised me to succeed in the college town that I am a part of today.