When I was looking for college, I knew I wanted a small town atmosphere. It was a massive deciding factor in my collegiate search, and narrowed it significantly. Even though my hometown wasn’t altogether big, I knew I didn’t want to be stuck in traffic the rest of my life. I wanted somewhere that was quiet and peaceful. What I didn’t expect was the feeling of stasis -- going nowhere quick.

Back home, I took my ability to pick and choose for granted. I could decide what I wanted to do that weekend, and where I wanted to go. Now that I live in a small town, it’s not so much a what I want to do, but more of a which activity should I cycle through this week? Is this week Karaoke week, or should I go to the game night? Is it movie night in Altman, or are we playing VR in Weyer? It’s a lot of replaying the same song over and over and over.

So how do I survive? How do I find peace and adjust from moving from a larger town to just above a village?How have I reconciled my old life with my new one? I've been lucky; my college has a lot to do all the time. Just recently, my mom and my grandma visited, and in one weekend, they experienced an Intercultural Event, a full tour, and two basketball games! Not only that, but we visited local goodies, including a bird sanctuary, Eileen's cookies, and an adorable cafe.

Honestly, the biggest lesson I learned was to keep an open mind about your surroundings. If you're always thinking that anywhere you are is the worst place to be, then it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. However, if you open your mind to the possibilities -- hanging out at Walmart until 2 am is actually more fun than you'd think -- then you can find a million things to keep yourself occupied.

Another nice thing about small towns is how much closer you get to nature. Since there's not a lot to do, most of your activities include taking a stroll through the park or driving to a lake that's a little over 15 minutes away. It's a wonderful way to bring people closer together(and to get those incredible Instagram pictures).

All in all, living in a small town is all I could have imagined it to be and more. I get to walk anywhere I want(just about) and I've discovered a lot of myself in the process. To those of you big city folks doubting your ability to make the leap into a small town, remember: "whether you think you can or you think you can't, you're right" -- Henry Ford.