“What plans do you have after graduation?”
As seniors in high school, this question follows us everywhere. Every family gathering, every event, all classmates. Everyone wants to know, and for me, the answer was always simple: “Marshall University!” My parents attended Marshall back in the eighties. I had family here. I love West Virginia. It was all that I had dreamed of for so long.
After proclaiming my plans to move halfway across the country, I always received two questions. The first: “Where is that at?” I’m glad you asked. Marshall University is located right in the heart of Huntington, West Virginia. After this, I hear the second question: “How far away is that?” Marshall University is approximately 500 miles from my hometown of Festus, Missouri, located about 30 minutes south of St. Louis, Missouri.
While I spent the first 18 years of my life in Missouri, I hated it. I hated the land, the culture, and more. My dad grew up in West Virginia, and nearly all of my family lives there. We visited every year. In the three years prior to my graduation, my dad took me on road trips through the mountainous regions of West Virginia, taking me to the state parks and beautiful sights. I always knew that I loved West Virginia, but these experiences in the mountains only strengthen my love for it.
Now, it’s October. I’ve been at Marshall for about two months.
“What’s it like to go to college so far away from home?”
Going to college so far away from home is nothing like I ever expected. After hating my life in misery, er, I mean Missouri, for so long, I was ready to leave forever. I spent so much of my time dreaming of West Virginia that I failed to appreciate my life and experiences in Missouri. Now, I just want to go back. I miss everything that I hated before. I miss the opportunities and unique culture in the Greater St. Louis Area. I miss the people. I miss my parents. I miss my dog. I miss my life.
Never before did I ever take note on the unique culture of the Lou, but now that I’m deprived of it, I see it so clearly. Everyone asks where you went to high school, but you’re almost guaranteed to know someone in common. There’s an overwhelming pride and passion for Cardinals’ Baseball. Any game day, a sea of red covers the city and smiles covers the face of every St. Louisian. There’s a concert nearly every night at at least one of St. Louis’ venues.
I didn’t ever expect to miss my parents as much as I do. I figured that with the relationship with my parents, I didn’t have to worry about missing them so much. When my parents and I said goodbye for the first time in August right outside of Marshall Hall Of Fame Cafe, I saw the tears well up in their eyes. Having never seen my dad cry before, it finally set in that this was my new life now. Now, I’m in college, and rather than saying goodbye to my distant family, I have to say goodbye to my parents.
I never expected any of my college experience. I never expected to miss everything I loathed for so long. Now that I’m away, I realize that all of those things shaped me into the person I am today, and I would not have asked for any other upbringing or surroundings.
