There are times in our life where we move away from our hometown. It could be moving away to college, moving away to a new job in a different city or just plain moving away to start fresh.

I am so grateful for the opportunity I had to leave my small town. If it weren't for the opportunity to leave, I may have never found myself and decided what I wanted to do in my life. Now I will be honest with you, this is NOT that article that bashes those who decided to stay in their hometowns or returned to their hometown. I loved growing up in my small town, and I wish that everyone could have the chance to grow up in a small town where you don't have to worry about anything happening. I am here to tell you how great it was to grow up where I did.

I am living in a city that is only 45 minutes away from my home town and even though its not a huge city, wow is there a difference. There have been children shot, drive by shootings, drug busts, meth labs, and I felt like such a country bumpkin. I was so happy that I grew up being able to go trick or treating by myself once I reached a certain age because it was a town of 50 people where everyone knew everyone. I grew up knowing every single one of my classmates, not to mention everyone in every other class as well. We had no choice but to know each other and back then, it seemed like a bummer but looking back I realized that it was a blessing.

I grew up knowing my high school teachers because they were in my older siblings classes or they went to my church all my life. I knew a different side of my teachers that I appreciated and loved. Did they maybe expect more of me because of this? Well, sure maybe. Freshman year was still terrifying nonetheless because it was a whole new level. Now BC students past & present reading this, Mrs. Z was the toughest English teacher that almost everyone was scared of because she demanded the most, or at least it felt like it. Now that I am looking back at my high school years it is those classes and those teachers I remember the most because they genuinely cared and expected, maybe demanded at times, more of us. I would not be as far as I am had it not been for those teachers. Don't worry guys, you'll get your own article later on.

My point is, you don't get that kind of quality of teachers & teaching when you are in such a huge school. Now some are going to argue that you can, which I am not saying that you can't, just not at the level of small schools, graduating class of 60 kind of small schools.

We had very little restaurants, I remember the buzz around town when we got the first and only McDonalds in our town. Then next we got a Subway restaurant. However the treasures of my small town were called the Tastee Treat & the Corn Dog Stand. If you ever come to western Illinois in the small town of Mount Sterling, make sure to stop by these two gems. Tastee Treat is famous for their lemon ice cream but anything you order is a delight. The Corn Dog Stand is basically a fair type vendor that has been in Mount Sterling as long as I can remember but their corn dogs are the best I have ever had, and I think of myself as a fair vendor eating connoisseur.

Football Fridays are king in my small town, the whole town is out of commission when it is Homecoming and everyone is out and about for the parade and you see green and white everywhere. Growing up I hated my small town where everyone was famous, now that I am in a town where I don't know a soul sometimes I miss that feeling of knowing everyone I see. Then again, sometimes it is still nice to be a mystery to everyone. I never appreciated my small town living until I had the opportunity of leaving.