I always wanted to be a small town girl. I wanted to go to a school where everyone knew one another because our town was so small. I wanted a little grocery store where we would all shop at. I wanted to know everyone in my neighborhood and attend the local high school's sporting events every weekend.

Instead, I grew up in the middle of Westchester, a subdivision of the crazy, bustling city of Miami.

I never really realized how different Miami was until I moved to Tallahassee for school.

Miami has tons of new restaurants opening monthly, with pricey meals and outrageous dishes. There was always a new place to eat every weekend, if your pocket could afford it and if you were willing to make the drive. From Latin-inspired eats to foods you've never even heard of, food is in abundance in Miami.

Traffic could turn a 15-minute drive into a 45-minute trip. What may have been just a trip down Coral Way turned into an expedition into rush hour traffic with people disregarding all traffic laws. I learned to become an aggressive driver when I was trying to merge on the highway but all the other drivers were forcing me back into the barrier. Miami drivers would rather you run out of road before allowing you to merge into their lane.

When I finally moved out of Miami, I kept an eye social media to keep up with all the happenings in Miami. It turns out that everyone I went to high school with does the same thing every weekend. They hit up El Patio or Space on weekends, then end up at George's on Sunset for brunch on Sundays. They somehow all know someone that has a boat or a yacht then flaunt their false wealth on Snapchat for everyone to see.

All the girls are getting false eyelashes and trying to convince their parents to pay for their boob jobs. The guys are going to get haircuts every two weeks and constantly calling each other "bro." I can't ever hear that word without remembering it in a Miami accent.

Dolphin Mall boasts over 200 stores, all of which are packed with tourists rolling around their oversized luggage. I remember working at Dolphin and having to practice communicating with tourists in Portuguese and French because they were offended by my English.

Driving to Tropical Park for a high school football game meant passing by the Columbus Cross Country Runners coming back from a run around the park. Everyone's first driving lesson was in the parking lot at Tropical, driving around in circles in the empty lot. When Santa's Enchanted Forest would start, you'd never be able to find parking at Tropical Park.

Spring Break in Miami means the beaches are overrun with college spring breakers from other schools, high schoolers are trying to mooch off of the older kids, and the unfortunate Snow Birds are getting sunburnt while surrounded by the youth. You'll never find parking at the beach, but if you travel further up to North Miami Beach, you'll find a few vacant garage spots.

As big as Miami is, everyone knows one another. Like a small town, everyone knows someone from Lourdes or Palmetto who has a cousin at Killian who dated a guy from Gables. I moved to Tallahassee and suddenly knew a handful of Delts that had gone to schools in Miami, who knew my friends that went to different schools. Miami is a big city but a small world.

At the end of the day, growing up in a big city taught me to deal with a lot of different characters, plenty of attitudes, disastrous drivers, and the endless drama. As toxic as a city could be, Miami was home, but it sure wasn't easy living.