Like many people, I was blessed and cursed with the opportunity to be raised in a small town, A place where word circulates faster than the crappy AC unit in the high school. A place where Friday night football is like a second religion. A place where you can see the same faces from the day you arrive there to the day you leave. A place where your business is known by others almost as well as you know it. It's a place that growing up in makes you kind of hate it with all of your teenage angst.

Growing up in a small town I definitely had those moments when all I could think about was escaping. When a rumor would spread or a breakup would happen it would feel like my world was going to come crashing down around me. With everyone knowing my business, it was easy to feel like my world was going to come to a slow and agonizing end, and because of that there were times when I just hated living in a small town. What I failed to realize is how much I would miss it when I was gone.

I always failed to realize the wonderful opportunities that my small town provided to me. Thanks to my high school, I was able to take my entire freshman year of college while in high school. The right people knew who I was, and if they didn't I was certainly introduced to them. I got to know my teachers on a personal level, and because of that I was able to graduate in the top ten percent with honors. I was able to get in to every college I had wanted to. I had an entire staff backing me, believing in me, rooting for me, and celebrating with and for me.

The opportunities didn't just stop with the school. Being such a small community, there was never a time when I couldn't be involved with something. There were volunteer organizations and opportunities everywhere you turned. The best part about these opportunities were that you knew the names and faces of the people that you were helping.

When one of our own was in trouble or sick or struggling fundraisers would be planned, events would be held, and everyone would send their support in some way. These opportunities demonstrated a type of morale and community pride that I doubt you'd be able to see anywhere else.

Through all of these other benefits the greatest benefit of all was able to take form: the opportunity to make some of the most incredible friends you could think of. There is rarely someone you come across who you can't have a conversation with, or who wouldn't be down to pile up in the nearest car and go adventuring. There are friends that stick around for the night, for the summer, or for your entire life.

A small town is the perfect place to make your lifelong friends. These are the friends that will always greet you with open arms. These are the people that will remind you of how much you've grown. These are the people that will keep you grounded when you forget where you started. These are the people you can call on whether you're sixteen or thirty five.These are the people that make anywhere feel like home, whether you're side by side or hundreds of miles apart.

Saying goodbye to a small town seems like the easiest thing in the world, but it has been and always will be one of my hardest goodbyes. I've come a long way from where I've started, and for that I am forever grateful. Everything I have I owe to you my wonderfully wacky, beautiful, incredible small town.