Everyone has a hometown. The majority of people, including me, have a love-hate relationship with their hometown. Coming from a small, suburban town where everyone knows each other makes me partial to small hometowns. If you're coming to college for your freshman year or your last year, you will still feel nostalgic when you think about your hometown. Here are some things you will miss when you leave your hometown.
1. Hometown friends
As much as you love your college friends, no one knows your embarrassing stories better than your childhood friends. These people saw you during your awkward middle school years and still wanted to be friends with you. They knew your first boyfriend and saw you through your breakup. Your college friends are great, but they met you when your were free of braces and not knowing how you did a face plant in front of the whole school at the homecoming dance.
2. Your favorite restaurant or deli.
Everyone will admit that food from home is almost always better than dining hall food. When you come home for break you will beg your mom to make you your favorite dish, but right after that you will call your friends and head to your favorite restaurant. Somehow this place makes your favorite dish better than anywhere in the world. You will have cravings for a bagel or a sandwich from your local deli when you least expect it, throughout college.
3. Everyone knowing who you are.
If you come from a small town like mine, everyone knows each other. If you don't know someone personally, you have at least heard of one of their siblings or relatives. As annoying as trying to live up to a sibling's reputation may have been in school, you will miss everyone knowing at least someone in your family so they have an idea of who you are.
4. Hometown pride.
Hometown pride runs deep. No one at college will understand your high school traditions that are so unique to your town. I grew up with the senior class storming the field dressed as "horsemen" during football games, but when I went to college that wasn't the case. Each high school and town has traditions that are unique and are dear to the residents, but no one else will understand.
5. Local gossip.
Going hand-in-hand with coming from a town where everyone knows your name is gossip. Everyone is in each other's business. Everyone knew within a week if someone was getting divorced and if the wife got a boob job with the divorce settlement. There were the local mom cliques that constantly gossiped. On the other hand, gossip had its perks. The whole town knew within a day if someone had died or if a house burned down. The whole town rallied and tried to help whoever was grieving or trying to rebuild.
Overall, college is great. You really do get to come into your own in a whole new setting. Yet, you can't deny where you came from. Wherever you go, you will always miss the little things about your hometown.
