" No I cannot forget where it is that I come from, I cannot forget the people who love me."- Small Town by John Mellencamp.

I have recently been listening to this song a lot due to the fact that some people I have met in college have "trash talked" my hometown. I am a proud Baxter, Tennessee native and a proud Upperman Bee alum. It bothers me when people say," Oh Baxter is nothing. Everyone from there is redneck, and I don't understand why people live there in the first place."

First of all, I am not going to name names, because it does not matter who says it. What matters is how I stand up for myself and my hometown. Everyone from Baxter is not redneck, and even if we were that does not make us bad. It makes us have more common sense actually.

I know a lot more people that could survive in the wild or survive in hard times from Baxter than I do from other places. Our parents and our teachers taught us that agriculture matters. If it were not for us "rednecks" or "farmers," you would not have food on your table. I know a lot of farmers that grow many acres of corn a year and that corn provides you with more than just corn on the cob. Agriculture provides you with food and I know for a fact that everyone enjoys food, so please stop telling me that the "redneck farmers" from my hometown are not worth anything in the "real world."

If you classify "rednecks" as people who go hunting for their food and kill a deer every deer season, then you should also be thanking them. The more deer they kill, the less deer that are on the roads. Which means that you have a less probability of hitting a deer with your car.

If you call us "redneck" because we have a passion for sports and have a large, loud, and proud fan base, then here is a new way to look at that. We do not just yell because we are so passionate about the game, we yell because we are so passionate about our boys and girls that play the game. We make signs and cheers to show our appreciation and our support for the people that we love and have grown up with (or watched grow up).

I will agree, there is not a single high school fan base like Upperman High School's. Every time I got on the bleachers in "The Swarm" (The Student Section) I felt like high school was the best place to be. For one night out of the week, I could relate to the entire student body. We were all there for the same reasons and those games are the reasons why I grew to love my high school. When I sat down at the desk on the sidelines of the Volleyball games (I was a Volleyball Manager) I felt as if there was nothing in this world that I could love to do more.

If it were not for Baxter and how each Baxter school taught me to love sports, I would not even be majoring in Broadcast Journalism with a Sports Media focus. Baxter made me realize at an early age what I was destined to be, and I will always be thankful for that. So, before you call us "redneck," I encourage you to realize that we are so much more than that word.Therefore, I think it is about time you think before you call all of Baxter redneck. Lord knows what this world needs is a few more rednecks and less politicians.

If it were not for that town, I would not be the person I am today. It is where I learned my values and how important my self-worth truly is. I learned that no matter how hard the battle may be, at the end of the day God will get you through it and that if he is for us NOTHING can stand against us.

If it were not for that town, I would not have learned the true meaning of "bonding." What I mean is how you relate to someone and how you treat someone matters. It does not matter if you have nothing in common with someone or if that person is your "spirit twin," you need to treat them with respect and always be kind. I always tried my best to be kind to everyone around me. The beautiful thing about Upperman is the fact that everyone knows everyone. This makes it easier to know what is going on in people's lives and it makes it easier to start a conversation. It always seems as if one person is down the whole community is down. The community will get together and try their best to help one another in time of need.

Now, I am not saying by any means that high school was hunky dory for me, because I would not go back. I served my time of being confused, frustrated, mad, sad and happy. Yet, I am glad I went to Upperman because I truly believe that Upperman gave me the best experience a high school can possibly give you. I do not choose to remember every memory from high school, because some of them were the worst times of my life, but I do choose to remember the memories that make me smile.(Like when I drove to school for the first time, Volleyball season, the last time I was in "The Swarm," Dr.Brown's class, May Day, graduation and a few more.)

High school is over for me, but the memories will never be over.

If it were not for that town, I would probably not appreciate the little things. For instance, I love riding around back-roads with my sunroof and windows down with music blaring and wind in my hair. I love barns and I believe they are the best places to take pictures. I love catching lightning bugs in my hands and to watch them glow in my hand. I love the lake and how it feels to get on a boat and just relax all day (even though I think this is a universal feeling, there is nothing like Center Hill Lake.) I love big, green open fields with rolling hills. I love driving over to my Mema's house and I love to hear her tell me stories of how she grew up in the same area I did.

My first article was about a Clean Slate, that I wanted and that I needed. I am so thankful to have had that ability to start over and meet new people, but it does not mean that I do not love Baxter. I love Baxter, even though I may not always show it.

You know what they say," You can take the girl out of the town but you can't take the town out of the girl." Even though I love Baxter, it does not mean I will be here forever. I have a dream of working for ESPN or SEC Media Days (also owned by ESPN). My plan is to move to Knoxville and start at the SEC base there, but that does not mean when someone asks me where I am from that I will not mention Baxter. I will tell them that I live in Knoxville, but my hometown is Baxter, Tennessee — Home of the Bees.

At the end of the day, I think we are all proud of where we come from (or at least we should be). This is the place where you grew, this is the place where your parents showed you the ropes of life, this is the place where you took your first steps, this is the place where you tasted your favorite foods for the first time, this is the place where you saw the world for the first time, and (most importantly for me) this is the place where you got your first love for music.

If it were not for Baxter, Tennessee I would not be the person I am today. Baxter is the place where I grew, the place where my parents showed my the ropes of life, the place where I took my first steps, the place where I tasted my favorite foods for the first time, the place where I saw the world for the first time, and (most importantly) this is the place where I got my first love for music.

I am proud of the person I have become so far, I have come a long way. Eighteen years is a long time, but if you do not take a look around every once in a while and learn to appreciate the little things and where you are from, you just might miss the whole purpose of being here on this crazy planet.

Here is a toast to my small town, your small town and all of the small towns of America. Thanks for showing us what really matters in life.