As I came home this summer I realized something different was in the air -- something was missing. I drove around town and tried to pinpoint exactly what I was missing this summer and why it was so different. I began to realize that it wasn't my surroundings, instead it was me that changed. I suddenly felt more grown up than I ever have, too big for a small town. My mind and thoughts were not as naive as they used to be, for I have now experienced life outside of my small, simple town. I was able to pinpoint what made me feel the way I did -- signs that made me know I was too old for my high school hometown.
1. Your friends are no longer around, instead they are off doing and accomplishing bigger things.
I pulled into my driveway as I returned home from college and realized that I didn't have anyone to text or happily express how I was finally home. Reality hit, I was more alone this summer than I ever had been before. Some of my friends were off across the country, working their summer at their college job. Others are doing internships in the city and working towards their dream career.
2. High school graduation seemed like yesterday.
Remember when we thought we were so old and grown up approaching high school graduation? Me too. Instead, I watch my younger sister try on her cap and gown while I pick out my dress for a proud sister sitting in the stands.
3. Endless search for internships rather than minimum wage jobs.
It's so sad realizing that your priority is no longer just working and covering shifts, but rather trying to find the best fitting internships for your working resume.
4. The houses in your neighborhood are all on the market.
Your neighborhood that used to be filled with familiar faces is now filled with strangers and newborns. The memories that I held in my best friend's old house are now given to a new family for them to make their own memories.
5. You're turning 21.
I thought I was old turning 20, but oh no was I wrong. It seems like in the blink of an eye my age is changing from 18 to 19 to 19 to 20. The bars in my hometown will soon be not so unfamiliar and the hometown gathering of friends will be at the local pub instead of a fire pit in our parent's backyard.
My college laptop has all the old pictures on my computer of the memories I had living it up in Boxford, Mass. My friends and I getting our hair and makeup done for our senior prom and making forts in the woods of the town. Time really does fly, the major lesson I learned as I pulled into my driveway coming home from college.
