Our hometowns teach us a lot of things. They nurture our small town lives and give us plenty of friends because, well there's only so many people to hang out with. See, where I'm from there's a cycle. In your elementary years you participate in Saturday soccer, Little Leagues, Upward, and a lot of church events. Then as you transition into your high school years you become more social with other high schools in your area and somehow know or have heard of just about everyone. After this, you go to the university that's located within the county because, let's face it, who voluntarily wants to leave all of their friends and family? Well, that person was me.
Anyone that's from a small town will understand this when I say that I thank my hometown for a lot of things, but I'm most thankful for being able to leave. This isn't to say I don't love my family or friends, it simply means that I wanted more than what my hometown had to offer. For the longest time I thought there was something wrong with wanting to experience more, but then I realized that different people want different things from life.
That being said, a lot of the people I graduated with decided to stay close to home for college because that is what made them happy. But speaking for the minority of my graduating class, I did not want to live in the same place I had lived in for my entire life and that's OK too. I will say that I do get jealous of some of my friends' abilities to go home whenever they choose too, but I know that I am beyond blessed to be able to experience where I am and what I plan to do in life.
Choosing to leave home is a very big decision for anyone, but specifically for the small town people like myself, moving away to college is a major culture shock and your first year can either be absolutely wonderful and agonizing because it is such a change. It took me the entire first semester to get adjusted to life on my own, but in the end, moving away to college was the best decision I've ever made.
