I was born and raised on the south shore of Massachusetts. In high school, however, I started to get sick of my surroundings and decided to go to school down in North Carolina. Since I've been down here, I get more and more excited about the thought of going home. There are so many reasons why Massachusetts is a great place to grow up and sometimes you have to be away from it for awhile to really appreciate how great the state is.

Here are 14 reasons why I'm happy to say I'm from Massachusetts.

1. The Cape

Also known as Cape Cod, but only refer to it as that if you aren't from Massachusetts. The Cape has some of the most beautiful beaches in New England and is great place to spend summer vacations. Out of all the beaches I've been to around the world, Mayflower is still my favorite.

2. The Driving

We might be aggressive while we do it, but we know how to drive. Learning how to drive in Massachusetts, especially the streets of Boston, prepares you to drive anywhere in any weather condition.

3. The Sarcasm

There's something in the water in Massachusetts that makes us very sarcastic people. It's just a way of communication in this Commonwealth. Refer to the movie "Ted" as an example of some of the humor you may come across in Massachusetts.

4. Nantucket

I have to admit I grew up in Massachusetts and I have yet to make it to Nantucket. But I have the full intention to make it there in the near future. Nantucket is another great place to visit during the summer and it's as classiest as it gets in Massachusetts.

5. The Education

Massachusetts is known for holding some of the best educational institutions in the world. Not only are there impressive public and private high schools throughout the state, we have some of the world's top universities. Just to name a few: Harvard, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Boston University, Boston College, Babson, Bentley, Amherst College and Tufts. Not that my high school grades would've ever gotten me into any of those schools, but it's no wonder why Massachusetts is voted to have the best education in the nation.

6. The Sports Teams

The Red Sox, Patriots, Celtics and the Bruins. We've always been known for having great teams and even better fans; that's why everyone else hates us so much. Some of our teams might be having an off season, but that doesn't mean we're not going to still be committed to watching every game.

7. Tom Brady

More accurately, God himself. Keep your comments about Deflategate to yourself, he was found innocent and that's all that's relevant. I might not know everything about football, but I do know that Tom Brady is the best quarterback of all time. Count the rings and number of losses we've had this season. Oh, and don't forget about his perfect looks and smokin' hot supermodel wife. Yeah, he's the king.

8. Martha's Vineyard

This is another island that is preppy and an awesome place to spend your time in the summer. It's filled with a bunch of cute, gingerbread-like houses that give it a unique feel. It's about an hour ferry ride over to the island, or if you're feeling fancy, you can take a short plane right over there too.

9. Fenway Park

The first baseball stadium in the world. Fenway Park is known for its Fenway Franks and green monster seats. It doesn't matter whether or not you're there to watch a playoff game or a game when the Red Sox's aren't playing so hot, Fenway always provides a good time with some entertaining fans.

10. Plymouth

A little bit more history Massachusetts has to offer can be found in the town of Plymouth. This town is known as "America's Hometown" because it is where the pilgrims decided to create their colony in 1620. This is also where the first Thanksgiving feast was held. There is also the Plymouth Rock and Mayflower that tourists can visit to see where the pilgrims landed. History may not be exciting for everyone, but it's definitely cool that Plymouth holds so much American historical value.

11. The Seasons

Everyone knows that Massachusetts can get some pretty brutal and long winters. But the rest of the seasons (almost) make up for it. Massachusetts and the rest of New England definitely have the prettiest foliage during fall. During October is especially a good time to live in Massachusetts if you live close enough to make a trip to Salem. The spring is also really pretty and exciting, especially after a record-breaking winter. The summers are the best because of all the places you can visit that are previously mentioned, and are always good for the people that live on the coast. The winters aren't all bad though, there's something nice about having everything covered in snow and usually having a white Christmas.

12. The first State to legalize same-sex marriage.

It doesn't matter what outlook you have on this law, it still is something awesome that Massachusetts did. Massachusetts was the sixth jurisdiction in the world and first in the United States to allow same-sex marriage. In the year of 2004, Massachusetts proved to be a leader and show the rest of the nation that love knows no gender, paving the way for the United States to agree 11 years later.

13. Dunkin' Donuts

Massachusetts is the state that gave the rest of the nation the beautiful chain called Dunkin' Donuts. Founded in 1950 in Quincy, Mass., it can now be found all over the country. In any town in Massachusetts, you usually won't need to drive more than a few minutes to come across one. The slogan may be "America runs on Dunkin" but it's really Massachusetts that runs on Dunkin'.

14. Boston

It may be smaller and a lot colder, but Boston is one of the best cities in the world. There's great night life, tons of history, amazing food (aka, the North End) and so much more. Tell a person from Massachusetts that Boston sucks and I promise they'll give you a bunch of reasons why that isn't true. No matter how far away someone actually lives from the city, when you ask them where they're from they'll say Boston. That's just how proud we are of it.