Don't get me wrong, I was so excited to come to Ohio University and leave my very small town and even smaller high school behind me. However, I didn't realize just how much I would miss spending five hours on homework every night, and having everyone know my personal business. My town, in general, is next to a fairly large city in Ohio, aka Toledo, but has a population of only a few thousand. With that being said, being in such a small, tight-knit environment didn't leave a lot of room for personal privacy, which a lot of times got on my nerves. My high school was extremely academically rigorous, even earning the "Best School in the State" title a few times. Therefore, I didn't have much time to myself outside of school, extracurriculars, social life, etc. It's pretty obvious to see that I was excited to get away from having no time to myself and knowing everything about everyone and go somewhere that was brand new.

It's now halfway through my first semester at Ohio University and I think I can confidently say that it is very different from my hometown, in ways that I didn't really expect. I was expecting to like it here more than I like my hometown, but it's quite the opposite. I miss knowing every single person that I see every day, I miss having no time to myself, and I miss the fact that the only thing to do in my town for fun was going to get food.

I think it's safe for me to say that my high school was more challenging than my classes are here. There are some nights where I don't have homework, and for the first few weeks, I didn't know what to do with myself because I was so used to spending five hours on homework each night, that is after I got home from my various club meetings or sports practices. After figuring out my routine, however, I joined a few student organizations, and have found ways to spend my free time outside of my minimal homework and class schedule.

Even though I've gotten into the flow of things as a college student, I still miss my high school and my hometown.

I sometimes complained about it to no end, but the more I'm away from the place I call home the more I realize just how much I took for granted. So thanks hours of homework, knowing everyone and all of their personal baggage, having to play three sports a season because there weren't enough kids to play each sport, and having absolutely nothing to do on the weekends. I kind of really miss you.