Oh the good ole South: Texas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Louisiana, Tennessee, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina and North Carolina. It doesn't matter if you're a state touching one of those, if you're not from there, you're not in the South. Now, going to school in the South after living in the Midwest, or as most people refer to it down here as "the North", has been a big change. And I mean I'm from Missouri, not Alaska. But to those who live in Arkansas, I'm very "northern" and I say things that "northerners" would say. I didn't even know "northerner" was really a thing until I moved down here. But like I said, after moving to the South, it's been a big change.

First of all, you can't escape the accents. You'll hear words spoken like they're not even a word. "Theater" becomes "the-ate-er". Or words you use every day are rarely spoken. Like "dinner" becomes "supper". Even little saying is different. "You guys" turns into "y'all" and instead of saying "I could do that" people say "I might could". You'll come home for thanksgiving and people are already telling you that you've turned into a southern belle.

Now don't get me wrong, I know some nice people where I'm from. But it's nothing like the South. People in Walmart smile and wave and ask how your day is. You can ask people for help and they'll genuinely give it to you without expecting anything in return. There's just a common understanding that everyone is respectful. Now, if you're disrespectful, prepare to have a talkin' to. I mean look, you go to a big city and people are just assholes. It's just how it is in the city. It's expected that people mind their own business, keep to themselves, and ignore everyone else. They don't hold doors open and often don't say please or thank you. So when you go back home and people don't go out of their way to be generous, you might be appalled. And the guys tend to be actual gentlemen and the girls are just pure sweet. They refer to you as "ma'am" or "darling" or "hun". You won't go a day where you won't notice someone's generosity.

The food. Goodness me... the food. First of all, anyone you meet who's from the South and invites you home to eat with them, you're in for a treat so just go. But there's so. Much. Chicken. In a good way. But when you go to eat lunch or dinner or breakfast—whatever the occasion you're going to have a wide variety of a feast. It might as well just be Thanksgiving or Christmas. And there're so many foods you might've never even heard of. Like chocolate gravy? It is a meal, not a dessert. It's literally a chocolate sauce and biscuits. That's it. Oh, and prepare to have biscuits or homemade bread at every meal. And if you don't put gravy on your biscuits, you might as well have three heads cause they're gonna look at you like you do.

Sweet tea. I don't like it and never will. In fact, I don't like any tea for that matter. No, it's not the amount of sugar, it's the taste of the tea itself. But you better believe that half the people you meet will be disgusted that you don't like sweet tea. Oh, and if you prefer Pepsi over Coke—don't mention it.

Don't even get me started on American pride. It's everywhere. And the Dixie flag is not meant in a racial way, it's meant as a "we're from the South and we're proud of it", because, in case you haven't figured it out yet, the South is much different from the rest of the country. Of course, some people may use it in a racial way which is completely wrong, but chances are if someone is flying that next to and an American flag, it's because they're proud of where they're from. American flags are just popular to have up. People take pride in the states they come from and talk about it all the time. And they're pretty much all for the second amendment and love their freedom. Which I don't see a problem with one bit.

And the vehicles? I'd say about 50 percent of the people drive trucks. Ten percent probably being females. You'll see trucks with six-inch lifts and hooks and light bars and decals about killing animals or of the state they're from. But rarely will you find imported cars; those are frowned upon. How do I know this? I drive a Toyota. Just sayin'.

One of the biggest changes is the weather. Don't expect snowy winters and 50 degrees fall evenings. It stays well into the 70's through November. I remember I spent months waiting for it to get cold so I could start wearing my vests and boots. But December came and I went home for Christmas and it was warm out. When I came back to school, it was freezing. I think some states in the South skip fall completely. Either that or you get a solid week where the weather isn't humid and it's nice and cool. So enjoy it while you can.

The thing about the South is people just get each other because there's this mutual understanding for how things go. They're gonna give you crap if you don't like the same foods as them or if you talk
funny", but they're some of the nicest and most genuine people you'll ever meet. Going to a school in the South was a blessing in disguise and I wouldn't want to be anywhere else.