When deciding where to go for college, I had one thing in mind: getting out of New England.

Don’t get me wrong, I love New England. Growing up just outside Boston was the best possible childhood I could imagine. I lived close enough to a city that I could take the train anywhere to go on adventures with my friends. We never needed our driver's license, because everywhere we wanted to go was easily accessible by foot, train or bus. Living close to Boston I could walk to Fenway Park to catch a Red Sox game, take a train to a boat to camp overnight at one of the Boston Harbor Islands, or bike along the Charles River to get some exercise. I loved living near Boston, and always saw myself going to school in a big city on the East Coast.

When college acceptances came out, I had a good array of schools and environments to choose from. I visited a few of them, and ultimately chose to study at Beloit College in Wisconsin. I loved the feel of the school and could really see myself learning and having fun at Beloit. Plus, I was ready to push myself out of my comfort zone and move far away from home, to explore another part of the country.

Whenever anyone from home asks where I go to school, I just tell them Wisconsin. Very few New Englanders know anything about the Midwest, and their only response is “Oh boy you know it’s really cold out there”. So I bought a big winter coat and headed off to college.

Coming from a place where Midwest isn't really discussed was a real eye-opening experience. I almost felt as if I had come from a foreign country. Often times my peers ask me to say the phrase "Park your car in Harvard Yard after dark”, as if I spoke a different language than they did.

Food was a whole different issue. There are so many establishments in the Midwest that we don't have back home in Boston. At the beginning of the year picking a restaurant was just a bunch of words to me. All of the places they suggested were foreign to me. It usually went: Me: “What’s Noodles and Company?” Them: “Oh my God you don't know Noodles and Company?? You have to go, we’ll show you right now.”. And yes, it was true. I had never heard of Culver's, Cousins Subs, Piggly Wiggly, Lou Malnati’s, Halo Burger or Steak ‘n Shake. I have now been to all of those places, and I agree that they are amazing, and miss them when I am not in the Midwest.

Soda is called Pop.

Pizza is always either deep dish or cut in squares, not triangles.

Cheese curds are everywhere.

Custard isn’t a British egg and milk dessert, but rather thick, delicious ice cream.

The bugs that are considered annoying aren’t cockroaches or mosquitoes, but cute little ladybugs (not cute when they are crawling everywhere).

Whenever anyone says the name of a state, ex: Ohio, Iowa, etc., they are referring to the large colleges in those states, not the state as a whole.

The “U of M” isn’t the univerity of Massachusetts or Maine, it’s the University of Minnesota.

Bellybutton piercings are very, very common.

Nor-Easters don’t exist there, but lake-effect weather sure does.

The Cubs are called the Cubbies, the Blackhawks are essentially God, and the Brewers aren’t very good.

The people I have met in the Midwest are some of the sweetest, most genuine people I have ever met, and I cannot wait to go back to school.