The first time my parents announced to my brother and I that we were moving, I was confused to say the least. I was only 7, but I was getting ready to leave behind the only place I'd ever known, California. Since then, I have lived in 3 different states, 4 different houses, and 5 different schools until college. Not exactly your typical childhood. 

As I moved around, it seemed that all my friends stayed still. They lived in the same houses, went to the same school, and had the same friends until they went away to college. As a child, that was all I wanted. The familiarity of staying in one place, surrounded by my friends and family. But as I grew older and started to get ready to go to college, I realized that all this moving was a blessing in disguise. 

Moving around made me realize the value of what your home is. Home is more than just the house your parents live in while you are away at college, it's more than the address you put on your resume. Each of these cities have given me something completely different and have helped me grow into a better person because of it.

Every place I lived has taught me something different, and I'm still finding new reasons to love my current home every day: Charleston. Charleston has given me so many different things and I am so lucky to call the top-rated city in the world one of my homes around the country. And now that I am in college, I no longer feel jealous of those kids who got to stay in one place their whole lives, because if I had moved as much as I did, I probably never would have ended up here in Charleston. 

So thank you, mom and dad, for giving me 6 great cities to call my home, I'm lucky to have seen so many different, great places.