I grew up in a small town and now I attend a small university. I've never had the taste of being a little fish in a big pond, but honestly, I don't think I'd like it very much anyway.

Despite sometimes feeling that this "small lifestyle" keeps me sheltered, I wouldn't have wanted to grow up any other way.

1. You can name everyone in your graduating class.
Probably in alphabetical order, too.

2. At some point, walking on the main street of your town was considered plans for the night.
“What’re we doing tonight?"
“We’re gonna walk ‘The Ave’.”

3. Everyone went to the town diner after at 2 a.m. after a night of drinking.
Diner Effect.

4. You could easily walk from one side of town to the other in 30 minutes.
It’s just a quick two-mile walk to the town over.

5. People left their doors unlocked.
No need to send the, “I’m here” text, just walk right in.

6. Everyone knows everyone.
You probably don’t even need to use last names when referring to people.

7. People only cared about football.
If you didn't attend the football game, you missed out on the biggest social event of the week.

8. You referred to the nearest city in reference to where you live.
“I’m from Nutley, it’s about 15 minutes from NYC.”

9. Teachers often mistook you for/compared you to your siblings or cousins.
Luckily, my fam had their shit together.

10. You couldn’t go to the local grocery store or general store without seeing someone you knew.
So you probably didn’t wear your sweats in public. Otherwise, your ex-boyfriend’s mom that you ran into would go back and tell him you looked like garbage.

11. Local parks were where you hung out at night.
Until the cops came by to inform you that you couldn’t be in the park after dark, because clearly that meant you were doing drugs or other illegal activities.

12. You’re somehow related to everyone in town.
So be careful who you date.

13. Hanging out in store parking lot was an acceptable spot to entertain yourselves at some point in your life.
If you’re from my town, you definitely have hung out in the Mandee’s parking lot, without any shame.

14. You’re still friends with the people you went to kindergarten with.
You’ve probably even recently hooked up with them.

15. You complain about it, but you really actually love your small town a lot.