If you grew up in a small town, then you probably know that it’s easy to hate it. I know I love to hate on my dinky little hometown, but sometimes I have to admit that growing up in a place I couldn’t stand actually taught me some very important things. Whether it was too tiny or too stuck-up, there’s no denying that your annoying hometown helped to shape the person you are today. It’s totally okay to hold a grudge, but there are a few reasons why you should also be able to appreciate the small town you hate.
1. Your Hometown Gave You an Incentive to Travel
If you failed to connect with your hometown, then more than likely you have or have wanted to travel for college. Moving out right after high school is not an easy task, but if you never really liked your hometown to begin with, then there is an incentive for you to go find a place that you can connect with. Sometimes that place is pretty far away (for me it was 1,100 miles), but it becomes less scary when you learn that making a move is what you need to do to be happy.
2. You Learned to be Independent
When the going gets tough, it’s necessary to put on the big girl (or big boy) panties. Growing up in a small town allowed little time to cry over spilt milk. More than likely, you had to learn to play with the big boys. If you had a rough time, you had to learn to stick up for yourself before you earned a reputation for being a big weenie, which is not a label you want to have when living in a town with only a couple thousand people. While it’s never fun to do, it’s a crash-course for living an independent lifestyle. Forcing yourself to learn how to take care of situations on your own is important, and you can thank your hated hometown for teaching you the hard way.
3. You Chose Your Friends Wisely
"OMG have you heard about so-and-so? I can guarantee you that everyone else has!" If you grew up in a small town, then you know that everybody knows everybody. Sometimes your neighbor is your cousin, and their neighbor is also your cousin, and their neighbor is probably someone you haven’t figured out is your cousin, too. There’s no privacy, and the minute you screw up and do something you probably shouldn’t, everyone in your town knows about it. As much as it blows to be the hot topic of the town, you quickly learn to choose your friends as carefully as you choose your outfit in the morning. The friends you do choose, however, will make the drama worth it.
4. You Appreciate EVERYTHING
If you grew up in a small town, then odds are you have a sense of appreciation for things big-city folks just don’t. I’m not trying to bash on the city, but it’s true. For example, my village (yes, village) flipped out for a solid three months over a new gas station. Why a gas station, you ask? Because it had Slurpees, of course! Something normal in the city is actually the greatest thing ever to those who live in tiny towns. Things that seem unimportant to people in the city are sometimes the most important things to those in small towns. Farming is a pretty big deal where I live and so is the FFA program at my high school (Future Farmers of America). When there’s a good harvest, we might as well just have a rave. I don’t know what makes city people feel excited, but for small-town folk, just about anything will do it.
5. It Shaped Who You Are
Flaws and all, your small hometown helped mold you into the piece of art you are today. It helped you decide what you love and what you hate, as well as what you want out of your life. Love it or hate it, you have your loathsome homeland to thank for who you’ve become.
