The day I left for college was probably one of the greatest days of my life. Although I wasn’t going too far away, I knew anywhere was better than my dreaded hometown, which I think anyone I graduated with would vouch for. It was a new beginning and here I was beginning a new chapter that was yet to be written. It wasn’t until after I was gone that I began to miss all the little things that I had taken for granted which made me realize that maybe it wasn’t so bad after all.

It took a couple months to settle in and get used to the new place I called home, but eventually I started meeting a decent handful of new people. Some people from small towns, like me, who knew the struggle of being able to eat at every restaurant in town within a week, and others who came from towns three times the size of mine who were very acquainted with the big city lifestyle. But in the end it always came down to who had better what and the only thing I had to compare was the hole in the wall Mexican food restaurants that I swore had world’s best enchiladas. (OK, that may be a little over-exaggerated, but it was just one of those topics you were obligated to defend). I mean our bowling alley had just recently been renovated and we had just gotten a pretty cool new shopping strip but that still wasn’t enough to produce a valid standing argument. So eventually, I just gave up and just accepted the fact that I came from a run down, overrated dump I prayed to never have to go back to.

Last semester during the drive back home for Thanksgiving break as I was pulling in town, I was forced to detour because heaven forbid we ever have a day without road construction, and of course it had to be the longest, most backed up detour you could imagine. Not only are our streets tightly compacted as it is, but on top of that most of our towns population has yet to figure out what a yield sign is. Living on the out skirts had it’s perks so to spare me the extra 30 to 45 minutes, I veered off and decided to map out my own way home taking back roads, side streets, or just whatever I could find that would lead me to my destination. During my drive, I had passed a popular hangout spot where most kids would go to meet up, hangout or show off their brand new vehicle they would probably wreck within the first couple of months of having their license. Not much had changed, it was still crawling with high schoolers' and the same activity was still taking place, just with a different generation. Although I still felt superior, I knew that these were no longer my stomping grounds and that they belonged to somebody else who was creating the same memories that I once did. Looking back, I wish I would’ve appreciated those moments more than I did because little did I know that times like that were the ones that were going to impact me the most. I thought living in such a run down town was useless and meaningless, but I’m finding out now that it wasn’t.

As you’ve probably already guessed, there wasn’t much to do so my childhood consisted of staying busy, whether it be with sports or some type of after school activities. Through that, I met tons of kids who shared the same interests as me and even made friendships that have lasted up until now (AKA my roommate, kudos to you girly). Not only that, but everyone’s parents knew each other through our activities, so getting together on weekends was that much simpler. After high school rolled around, most weekends were spent learning how to create our own fun, which usually led to trouble most of the time, but it taught us to entertain ourselves without ever having to spend a dime -and if we did, very minimal. Almost anytime you made an accomplishment; you were more than likely in the paper within the next couple of days, which left your article cutout hanging on the fridge for the next couple of months. If you played sports or had a special talent, it was fairly easy to get recognized for. Many of the jobs I had involved me working for small shop owners who I got to know fairly well, which benefited me when it came time for recommendation letters and references for college.

I could go on about a list of pros and an even bigger list of cons, but it was a place I once called home and therefore it deserves a little positive recognition.