I always hear the same word around campus used to describe people who graduated high school from Charleston, but attend Eastern Illinois University.

"Townies".

I don't understand why going to a four-year, close-to-home, beautiful university is such a bad thing.

There's always that dreadful question that professors ask at the beginning of the semester, "So, where are you from?" then later, after answering Charleston, I'm asked, "Do you even get the real college experience?", "Why did you stay here?", "Don't you wish you would have left this town and gone somewhere else?"

Here's what I think about it.

1. I don't pay housing and dining costs, which saves me thousands of dollars each semester.

2. My tuition is less than $6,000 per semester, so with scholarships and grants, I won't have more than $20,000 in student loans by the time I graduate.

3. I save money in gas by not having to drive 2 hours home and back each weekend, or during the holidays. I literally live 15 minutes from my parents.

4. I'm close to my family if anything were to happen, such as an accident, or if I needed to get a new phone, or some other tragic thing. Yes, breaking my phone would be awful.

5. I know my way around town. I know what to do here, and I know most of the people. I know the police officers, the firefighters, where the best place is to get my oil changed, and all of that other fun stuff.

6. The best part: I know when the best time to go to Wal-Mart is, when nobody else is there, to go grocery shopping. I know how to avoid big crowds and when is the best time to get in and out in under 20 minutes.

I don't regret staying in Charleston for college, and I don't think about what my life would be like had I gone somewhere else.

I'm thankful that I was lucky enough to live in the same town as such a wonderful university as EIU; not just because of the money aspect, but because some of my closest friends decided to come here for their college experience, and I wouldn't have met them otherwise.

I also met my fiancé here, and I wouldn't have met him or be getting married next year if I had decided to leave.

I am EIU, I am a Panther, and I'm proud of it.

.....Although, I'm also considered a townie.