Where I come from, Friday nights in the fall are designated to high school football games, Pumpkin Festival is the main tourist attraction, and no one leaves Walmart without seeing at least two people they know.

I grew up in a town with a population of around 4,138. We are the county seat and the biggest city around for almost 30 miles. I've witnessed the town become a city, local businesses come and go, and everything that has happened in between for the past 17 years. I live in one of those towns that everyone says they hate, but very few people actually leave.

We only have one elementary school, one middle school, and one high school. My graduating class will add up to a whopping 128 people and the classes surrounding mine won't end up with much more. Everyone in my class has known each other from the first day of kindergarten or somewhere around that time. We have all wept over deaths in one of our classmates family, we have all smiled and congratulated each other on each others achievements. We all root on the football team, show up to every game and cheer just like we were watching the pros live.

Our town has one hall where most people hold their weddings. One little league field where everyone has played at least one season, one soccer field, one McDonald's, one movie theater, one Walmart, and not much else.

Most people think growing up in a small town means everyone is a redneck or it means that they don't have much going for them, which definitely isn't the case. Plenty of people who lived in my small town went on to do great things, many of them do great things still living here. You will never find a more supportive, loving, and helpful community. It's reassuring to me to know that I'm safe wherever I go. To know that I can go anywhere and find a face I've known all my life. It gives me so much comfort to know that I have people rooting for me in everything I do.

I loved growing up in a small town and I am thankful that my parents gave me the opportunity to do so. It has taught me that if you want something you have to work for it, to be completely kind to strangers and people you don't know because they maybe a huge part of your life someday, and to never take anything for granted.