When you leave for college, there is a lot of doubt in your mind. How will you fare on your own? Who will remind you to do that horrid old laundry you can’t smell? What if a zombie apocalypse happens, and your previous survival plan does not work at your new found home?
While all of these worries are definitely feasible, coast kids seem to have a different set of worries and a different type of homesickness. Sure, they miss their families and friends, however, those memories are not the only or even the main reasons these guys and gals stay up some nights, thinking of home. Being from the coast, I contacted many of my high school classmates that have moved to different universities and asked, what do you miss the most about living on the coast? This was (mostly) what they said.
1. That “homey” small town feeling.
This was one that I knew was a prominent mutual feeling. Even in bigger towns on the coast such as Biloxi, the sense of togetherness and community is still strong. Even though you will hate every other local school during anysports season. Sure, your college campus may be friendly, but the joining together of people from different places, beliefs, and cultures causes a rift in the social scene. In every town on the coast. you feel at home whether you are born there or not.
2. The peace and beauty.
Ask any coast kid, the air feels cleaner near the ocean. Each breath feels different, and the breeze from the water is crisper. The sunrise and sunsets on the water never become an everyday norm for us, and we never needed an excuse to ride down Beach Blvd. at sunset. It is a great thing to be able to walk out your door and see beauty.
3. The fresh seafood.
It’s not our school cafeteria’s fault that there’s not a dock down the road to buy fresh fish from for those sorry fishfrys they attempt, but coast kids seem to forget that. We can smell a crawfish boil from a mile away, and you better believe we will be able to tell you if those shrimp were frozen at Wal-Mart, or pulled out the gulf coast waters. You might say we were spoiled, but we would rather call it blessed. We were raised on everything from redfish, to flounder, to even crabs made fresh in our kitchen and in the kitchens of those local eateries from our hometown.
(Shout out to Bozo’s in Pascagoula to adding to my senior summer weight gain.)
4. The ocean.
Even if you don’t swim, (which is a felony if you live near the ocean) you can still appreciate being so close to the water. There is a bubba gump type list of activities, fishing, kayaking, sunbathing in the sand, swimming, boating, kneeboarding, and the list goes on for hours. Everyone can find something to do, and if you are a less active person, watching the sun rise and set while sitting on a beach park bench is still an amazing experience.
5. Growing closer through tradition.
No, not those unspeakable hazing rituals you endured through your fraternity pledging. I also don't mean those Sunday family meals. Traditions from the coast are, well, way more interesting, and usually less embarrassing. Bonfires on the beach, going out on the boat to the islands with friends, to just fishing with dad off the beach’s dock, our coastal traditions embed themselves into everyone who has had the honor to call a town with a waterfront, home.
