When I moved into my dorm room freshman year of college, I didn’t realize how much my environment would change. I assumed since I was going to a “small” school that my life would remain relatively the same. I would soon meet people who would encompass the same kinds of people back home. Oh, boy was I wrong…

Police Sirens

This is one of the first things I noticed in my beginning weeks. My college’s campus has a main street which runs straight through it, causing it to be an easy cut through for various residents and well, police. Even at 3 am. It’s not like I live in the middle of nowhere and all I can hear is crickets at night. My house sits on a busy highway, so I’m used to the sound of cars. But never so many sirens!

So where are you from?

These five words were the most dreaded words in the English language for me during Freshman Orientation. This was pretty much the evolution of my answer:

1^st time I was asked: Well I’m from this little town called Ruby. It’s a little dot of a town. We don’t even have a stop light! Haha… *gradual end of laugh turns into awkward silence*
2^nd time: I’m from Ruby. It’s near Cheraw and Hartsville.
7^th time: I’m from a little town about an hour from Charlotte, NC.
15^th time: You know that little straight line on the top of South Carolina? My town’s right below that line. *confused looks*
34^th time: I’m from Chesterfield County.
89^th time: I’m from northeastern South Carolina. Yeah. Like in the Midlands.
176^th time: I’m from a small town. You don’t know it.

Wait… Walmart is 3 minutes away?!

Okay to understand this you have to realize back home it takes AT LEAST half an hour to get to any kind of large store back home. We pretty much just have a Fred’s and a Dollar General about 15 minutes away. So when I realized Walmart was only 3 minutes away, I was going to Walmart two or three times a day, which didn’t make my bank account look so good…

WHERE ARE THE BACKROADS?????

Granted, I was pretty excited about the prospect of a close Walmart but it wasn’t long until I realized the downfall. First, I was new to this town so I had no knowledge of which roads connect where and second, I lack the ability to navigate my way out of a paper bag. These two depressing facts prevented me from doing what I love most: backroad driving. There is no better medicine than windows down and perfect weather. Thankfully, I eventually found a route that was good enough, but it can’t begin to compare with the backroads at home.

Actually introducing myself

A few months after being in college, I went to the accounting office to clear up a billing misunderstanding. I walked up to the counter and the lady asked me my name. I stared at her dumbly for what seemed like forever until I finally told the poor woman my name. Here’s the issue... I wasn’t incredibly tired. My brain wasn’t fried from studying. I genuinely expected the woman to know my name along with my general ancestry! So adjusting to meeting new people was a big change for someone like me, who has spent their whole life in one place.

No one knows your parents/siblings/cousins

This one kind of ties into having to complete introductions. This was probably one of my favorite things (and least favorite things) about attending a college 3 hours away. There was hardly anyone who knew me from high school, so I had the ability to reinvent myself and be exactly who I wanted to be without the fear of previous expectations. However, some days I really just wanted someone to really look at me and ask me how I’m doing and say “Be sure to tell your mama hey for me.” I craved someone asking me how my older siblings are doing or some other useless, yet familiar, knowledge. I guess that’s a downfall of not being part of a small town anymore. Sometimes it’s nice to know there are dozens of people who know your name and your whole story even when you aren’t so sure of yourself.