1. Your tendency to speak to everyone you pass on the sidewalk is slightly frowned upon. 

When you grow up in a small town, it's just expected that you say hi to people that you know. Naturally, you know just about everyone, so you end up speaking to or waving at 95 percent of the people you pass by. It's not the same in the city — even though you most definitely feel like that girl you sat two rows behind in calculus last semester is someone you should wave at, she's probably not. These people will think you're creepy.

2. Driving in the city. Enough said. 

When I learned to drive, just getting on the interstate alone was a really, really big deal. Moving to a college campus with 30,000 classmates also meant learning to drive again — in a city with multiple interstates instead of just one and just plain weird stuff like roundabouts and double diamond interchanges. I'm pretty sure I almost died about seven times on the road during my first semester, but it was a learning process, right? 

3. You assume you have mutual friends (or relatives) with everyone.

Six degrees of separation is, for the most part universal, but when you grow up in a small town, it's more like one, two, or at most three degrees of separation. Even when you're meeting someone new, it's almost tacit that they know your parents, your best friend, or someone else you know, too. When I came to college, it took me a while to realize that my fraternity brother from Chicago more than likely does not know my sister's friend's cousin who's also from Chicago. The world is a big place and it gets a ton bigger when you leave home. 

4. However, when you do find someone you're connected to, it's a really big deal.

I came to college with one classmate, and I joined six older ones on campus. 8 of 30,000 isn't much, so when you find someone with a connection to your hometown, it doesn't matter how much you actually have in common because your hometown is more than enough to talk about. 

5. You identify with a county before a city. 

"I'm from Rockcastle County." Or maybe it's Garrard, Muhlenberg, Breathitt, Graves, Pike, etc. etc, etc ... Kentucky is home to 120 counties, each with their own culture, food, traditions and even accent sometimes. There are cities in those counties, too, but most of the time small town Kentuckians identify with the entire county versus their one-stoplight town. Besides, it's more likely that they've heard of Floyd County versus Wheelwright anyway.  

6. Manners and chivalry mean a lot more to you than most of your classmates. 

More than likely, if you grew up in a small town, your momma, your dad, your grandma, preacher, or someone taught you the importance of manners when you were growing up. You value things like a firm handshake, you say "yes ma'am" as much more than a colloquialism, and sometimes you'll risk standing for an awkward few seconds if it means holding a door open for the lady behind you. 

7. You would fight a man (or a woman) who insults your home. 

It's no secret that some of the most rural places in the South have the most issues. Across Appalachia, drug problems are rampant, cancer rates are skyrocketing, and made-for-TV documentaries are making us look like backward hillbillies. However, despite the fact that TIME Magazine named your county the "Meth Capital of America," you would argue to the end that it's a great place to live, and you're the only one who's allowed to make fun of it. 

8. On the flip side, your hometown pride is just short of insane.

Take notice that in my biography for The Odyssey, I referred to my hometown as the "greatest city on the planet," and I absolutely meant it.  12,000 people strong, my hometown seriously is the best city in the world, but odds are all my friends from similar places would claim the same thing about their homes. Corbin forever, P-burg forever, or wherever forever; you're proud of your small town roots, and you want everyone to know it. 

9. No matter how far you go, your hometown goes with you.

The Head and the Heart said it best: "I know there's California, Oklahoma, and all of the places I ain't ever been to, but down in the valley with whiskey rivers; these are the places you will find me hiding. These are the places I will always go."

I will always carry my home with me, no matter where I go. Everything I am, have been, and everything I will become is a result of the people and places that have made me this way. My personality radiates it, and that's why when someone asks me about my accent, I proudly claim central Kentucky as home. 

These are the places I will always go, and these are the places I will always come back to.