As my highschool career comes to a close in the next few months, I now have to think about my future and where I would like to be in the next years to come. I have made the conscious decision to apply to colleges in a city, near, or around one at least. Many people scoff at this, shocked and ask "Why would you want to live in a city?"; I reply, "well, why not?".
There seems to be a negative stigma around living in the city; some of the sights and smells and experiences may have been unpleasant for others. Some despise the city while others completely love it. Everybody has a different opinion on it for varying reasons and that is okay!
My reasons are for the human experience, the personal experience I may gain from walking the streets, exploring the night life and learning new things every day.
In the suburbs, you are almost stuck. You see the same things, the same people, experience the same things and that is completely fine if you make the best of it. Which I feel I have done, I have valued the comfort and the convenience of living in a great town, with great schools. I have appreciated all I have at my fingertips, the opportunities and the blessings I have.
But it is okay to branch out and want more.
I want to meet new people – and not just a few. I want to meet people from every walk of life, I want to listen to people's stories of heartbreak. I want to laugh with others, sympathize with them, support them, and live life with them. I do not want to be in the background of someone's story. I want to be the main character or a supporting role.
I want to try new things. I want to go to a restaurant I may have never thought twice about, I want to go to concerts within a walking distance, go to a sports game and celebrate with the winners. I want to go to a hidden art show or a museum that caught my eye.
I want to see the skyline from many rooftops, I want to find who I am even in the midst of thousands of people, I want to run through a park while skyscrapers surround me. I want to see people hustle and bustle to go to their 9-5. I want to witness people's lives happen around me while I figure out my own.
I am curious, and I want to be able to bloom where I am planted. I want to have some street smarts, I want to be able to handle myself in a city, feel like a badass every once in awhile, and impress myself. Life is about experiencing, right? Good or bad? So suburbs to city move? Why the heck not?
Life will not wait for you, you have to go and do what you want to do. Make a move, do something different, surprise yourself. The world is out there.