Oh the joy of small towns. Everyone knows everyone, the closest Starbucks is 40 minutes away, and no, we do not have a Cheesecake Factory. However, we do have cornfields, lots of them actually. So, if you're like me and chose to leave your small, podunk town for a booming city (or really anywhere bigger than 100,000 people), here are some things you know to be true:

1. When people ask where you're from, you have to give a region

No one knows where Du Quoin is. So instead of saying the actual name of the town, you give a region. "Southern Illinois" or "two hours south of St. Louis" generally gives people a good idea.

2. People honestly don't understand how small your town is

People from cities can't conceptualize the idea of how 6,500 people can qualify to have its own name or how you did indeed go to a public school and only had 85 kids in your graduating class. And that's okay because I don't understand how anyone has lived all their life not knowing almost every person in their high school.

3. You are in no way prepared for the traffic of a big city

At home, people think that being backed up by a train for 10 minutes is traffic. It's not. I promise.

4. You come to realize that your area has its own slang

This is something I had to come to terms with the hard way. I once said the word "tump," and everyone just looked at me like I was stupid. And to them I was because that word doesn't exist outside of my tiny town/region.

5. If you just say the state you're from, people will think of the biggest city

For me, I say I'm from Illinois and people automatically think Chicago, which is why #1 is so applicable. Honestly, I've just started saying I'm from Kentucky.

6. You feel so free because no one knows your whole family lineage

It's an amazing thing to not be judged immediately because of your last name or your mom's maiden name.

7. You can't really fathom all the stoplights

At home, we have three stoplights. I think Nashville has a few thousand. And yes, I get stopped by every single one of them.

8. You're always late to things because you underestimate the time it takes to get from one place to another

So many pedestrians and one ways that you don't even know are one ways until you turn down them and see a truck coming at you head on. But also because, at home, it takes you seven minutes to get across town.

9. You can go to the store wearing your pajamas

At home, going to the grocery store meant a social gathering. In big cities, the chances of you seeing anyone you know are slim to none.

10. You can't decide which you love more— the freedom of a big city or the community of your tiny hometown

Either way, you are so grateful that you've gotten the chance to live in both and you wouldn't trade that experience for anything.