Greetings readers of the Odyssey! I'm new here, so allow me to introduce myself. My name is Nick and one of the first things I tell people is that I am from the Wild and Wonderful state of WV. This always raises a lot of questions, so before you even ask why don't I clear the air about some common misconceptions of West Virginia that are out there.

1. West Virginia is an actual state

Contrary to popular belief, West Virginia is in fact its own state and not just the western part of Virginia. After moving to PA for college, I was shocked to find out how many people did not know that the state even existed. It actually became its own state on June 20, 1863 during the Civil War.

2. Its not full of stereotypical hillbillies

When people think of the average person from WV, their mind automatically pictures the over-all wearing hillbilly with no teeth plucking a banjo. Don't get me wrong, people like this do exist but it is not the norm. People are always surprised when they see that I am from WV and I don't have a southern accent or fit the mold of a stereotypical mountaineer. The state actually is full of all different kinds of people, just like anywhere else.

3. Incest isn't an actual thing here.

I mean...okay It is legal to marry your 3rd cousin in West Virginia. But, incest just isn't actually a thing here. I know this stigma may have formed out of the movie Wrong Turn, but does everything really happen the way movies depict them?

4. There really isn't much to do here.

Don't get me wrong, I love my home state. But it always confuses me when I see tourists visit the state because their is "so much to do." Besides maybe kayaking down a river on a summer day or hiking up a mountain, the only thing to do is make a trip to the nearest Wal-Mart. That's what all the cool kids from my hometown do in their leisure time. That's about it.

5. Nobody important is from WV

There's Brad Paisley, Don Knotts, Randy Moss, Steve Harvey just to name a few. Also, Brad Yeager the first pilot to ever travel faster than sound is from WV. So, we actually know what we're doing. John Denver, the writer of "Country Roads", is not from WV, however. But that's okay because WV gets very little attention, so we thank him for giving us some of that.

So there are some common misconceptions many people have about my home state of WV. Maybe soon I'll do some things that I love about WV like how the people there are some of the nicest you will ever meet.

I hope you guys enjoyed this article! If you did, be sure to let me know in the comments! I look forward to writing for the Odyssey and getting to know you guys as you get to know me!