I grew up in a suburban town in Central New Jersey, loving every moment spent in Jersey. However, I wanted to explore the country and leave the state instead of staying so I got to experience other parts of the country for college so I know what it is like outside of my little bubble in Jersey.

Going to college has taught me that I haven’t yet experienced different types of cultures, different people’s accents, and overall, a different surrounding that is filled with all unique types of people from all over the states and even the world.

What I didn’t realize when coming to college was that the stereotype of “New Jersey” is nothing close to what it really is. People might think that New Jersey is just like it seems in the Jersey Shore, however, it is nothing of the sort.

The first thing that comes to my head when thinking about the plus side of living in New Jersey is the relevancy, location wise. Where is New Jersey? Simply next to New York, the state, and city, and has amazing beaches all along our coast. The beach was only forty-five minutes from my town, same with New York City.

Meaning, cheap train rides to one of the most famous cities in the world and even cheaper drives to the city or beach that doesn’t take long at all. The location is perfect, leaving you to never be bored and always be in close proximity to either the city to explore day or night or a beach to spend all summer at.

We get every season in New Jersey. Not just the summer weather like people in the south feel, or the cold spring and hot fall like upstate New York, but the perfect seasons. The brisk windy fall, then the cold snowy winter, that follows with a nice breezy spring, leading to a hot and humid summer.

Following with the seasons, we have diverse scenery in New Jersey. Not only do we have suburban areas, we have rural and cities, along with forests, beaches, waterfalls, and mountains. There is no type of adventure you could miss out on while being in New Jersey.

The food is something that you’ll see nowhere else. The bagels that have endless options starting with your famous pork roll, ending with potatoes, lox, anything you can imagine on a bagel. However, the bagels aren’t your typical bagels.

We have some of the best bagels in the country, due to our location in the United States. Along with bagels, we have an amazing store called Wawa. You find these down the shore, and there is nothing better than ending a perfect day at the shore than getting Wawa before you leave.

There are endless options such as subs, paninis, baked goods, salads, a variety of milkshakes and beverages, coffee, snacks, hot food like chicken tenders and mac and cheese, etc.

Lastly, something that makes New Jersey the more perfect is the fact that we don’t have to pump our own gas. It might sound lazy and annoying, but it isn’t an option we have. As soon as you pull up to any gas station in Jersey, you will be greeted by a person who asks you what type of gas and payment, and they begin to pump the gas themselves.

It is just a simple convenience to us!

Overall, New Jersey may be called the “armpit of America” or trash because of the show “The Jersey Shore”, but no one understands the passion and love that the people from Jersey feel for this state.

There is never-ending fun along with things to do nonstop, with amazing people and food that couldn’t taste any better.

What is there not to love about New Jersey?