It was really weird to me the first few weeks of college when I would tell people “I’m basically from Sacramento,” and their reactions were almost always, “Ew, I’m sorry.” I couldn’t wrap my head around why people thought that the place I grew up, made my memories and lived all my life, was so repulsive and semi-offensive to them.

Don’t get me wrong, San Diego is amazing and definitely a place I intend on living in for a long while to come, but it's not Rocklin.

I grew up in a city of about 50,000 people, I’ve only moved one other time in my life and it was from the older side of Rocklin to the newer side. I had the same friends all throughout my life and I also lived down the street from all the people I went to school with.

Rocklin is in no way a super special place, we're about two hours from the bay, two hours from the mountains and seven hours from Los Angeles. By anyone else’s standards, it’s a "nothing" place north of the capital, and quite frankly, not worth visiting.

But this place gave me everything. It gave me a big community of people who play the same sports as me. Since there isn't a whole lot to do, I got really involved with sports and became an athletic person, which is one of my favorite parts of who I am.

It gave me a circumstance where I was forced to make friends and find fun and adventurous things to do with them since all we really have here are parks, schools and one place with a couple of water slides.

And to those of you who live in Rocklin, or some place like it, I promise you there are hundreds, even thousands of places out there that would’ve been way more fun to grow up in, other places with better weather and definitely a lot more to do on the weekends. And I know it might seem like this city is the last place you will ever want to be again after you throw your cap off at graduation. But take a second before you go, and appreciate all that this community has given you.

We got to grow up in a safe, family oriented neighborhood, our stories might not involve crazy or illegal things, but they involve us growing as a person, becoming who we are, and honestly this environment got us ready for the real world.

I would never have chosen to move to southern California, I wouldn’t be the young woman I have grown up to be and I would have no idea what I want to do with my life if it hadn't been for this little city. Life here might not be the most exciting but its home, and no matter how hard you try, you can never escape that.

Trust me when I say someday you're gong to look back and wish you never even tried to get away.

There truly is no place like home, so enjoy it while you can.