Growing up in a small town has made me the person I am today. There are not many things I would change when talking about the town I was raised in. But there are a few distance things that all small town high schools can relate to.
Friday Night Football
Bleachers packed. Sidelines filled with cheerleaders. Student section screaming. Concession stand filled. Imagine yourself in a scene from the show "Friday Night Lights". Everyone and their mother came out to support those boys of fall out there on the field. Students of all grades came out, whether they were cheering on a friend from the stands or listening to that one teacher make announcements while standing in the back field with your friends. A high school football game is something you do not want to miss out on in a small town!
No strangers
With a graduating class of less than 160 people, you had the chance to talk with everyone in your grade. Half of those kids you graduated with are the same kids that you started kindergarten with 13 years earlier. You didn't have a chance not to talk with everyone in your grade at least once.
No secrets
That boy you kissed in the hallway in the middle of 3rd period, everyone already knows by the beginning of 5th period. It is like a large scale version of that game telephone we always played as kids. The rumors spread like wild fires. In most cases, some parents know the drama before some students do. I don't know how it happens but it does and there is nothing you can do to stop that in a small high school.
Teachers really do have other lives
When your gym teacher is best friends with someone you know. Or when you serve your teacher and their family in a local restaurant. Teachers really do have lives outside of school and believe it or not they like to go out and do things in the town just like the students do!
Bonfires & Beer
"At the bonfire, out in the sticks country backwoods, homegrown hicks bonfire, dance a little jig, hold up your cup and take another swig"
Craig Morgan really knew what he was talking about when singing this song. Nothing describes a small town more than this. Friday night after a huge win everyone would get together and celebrate all night long.
Love Triangles
Triangles, octagons, decagons, it's all the same; one of the downsides of a small high school. There is a good chance the ex you dated a few years back will eventually be with one of your friends. There might be more eskimo brothers than actual brothers but that's what happens.
Sibling confusion
If you aren't the oldest in your family then you will forever be called by your siblings name through high school. My younger sister and I do not look anything like each other, but some teachers' still call her by my name. It even happens to teachers who I never even had! Its inevitable. You better make a good name for yourself so they stop calling you by your sibling's name and start calling you your own name.
There is a very good chance that many have experienced things similar to these if they went to a high school in a small town. Years after graduation you will still see those in your graduating class and strike up a conversation. There is some special bond you share for that high school and that crazy ole town that you just can't get rid of. Enjoy it while you can because before you know it you'll be long gone and wanting to come back.
