My going to a college that was over 10 hours away was by design — I have always said that I wanted to "get out" of my home state of Mississippi and go find someplace new for college.

This is not to say that I hate Mississippi, or hate being from there; I love being from a place that makes people stop and ask, "wait, how did you end up here?"

Since I have yet to find more than one person in Charleston who is from (or has even been to) my home state, here are some of the reasons that I loved growing up in Mississippi, and some reasons that I'm excited to be living someplace new.

I love Mississippi for its beauty, its rich history, its loving people, hidden pockets of like-minded thinkers, and perfectly silent summer midnights.

I used to think the Mississippi countryside was the most boring thing to lay your eyes on, but over the years I have grown to love it — the expanses of flat that extend for miles in the delta, the thick wooded areas that have laid unchanged for thousands of years, the murky lake water that glimmers in sunsets unlike anything else.

There is one place hidden away off the Natchez Trace that overlooks the reservoir (it conveniently is called the overlook), that has become a refuge of mine, that sometimes late at night after hanging out with friends, I find myself driving to without really realizing it. It's a place that's heard some of my deepest thoughts, and where I know I can always go to have a pretty view of the stars… It's the only place I've ever seen shooting stars, which makes it even more magical.

Yes, Mississippi is objectively beautiful, but it has also had a very dark history, which somehow I can't seem to forget about whenever I start thinking about the state. With the hardships have come some of Mississippi's greatest contributions to American culture — our blues, literature, art and stories have been an integral part of not only our history but the history of the United States, which is something that I love.

Mississippians are some of the most resilient people that I know, simply because all, or most, of us have worked so hard to right the wrongs of our state's history, and create inspiring, connected, and inclusive communities.

These communities that have survived so much history are home to some of the kindest and hospitable people you will ever meet—we haven't dubbed "the hospitality state" for no reason.

I can honestly say that Mississippi is one of the only places that still values saying hello to people you've never met on the street and where people still check in on you and your family when you're going through a hard time.

Don't get me wrong — a lot of Mississippians still have a long way to come up with their political opinions in this day and age.

I know far too many Trump supporters than I care to admit, and I still have a burning rage build up inside after seeing one too many lifted trucks with Trump stickers plastered on their tailgates. That isn't every resident of the state though; there are so many pockets of liberal thinkers and accepting people that I have found a home in.

Despite all of these things that I love about the hospitality state, I am so excited to be living someplace new for the next four years. Charleston is still southern.

I don't for the life of me think I could live in the cold northern temperatures — but to me, Charleston feels so much more like a real city thank my hometown did, especially living downtown with things to do just around the corner. It feels different enough from Mississippi that I'm excited to meet the people that live around me and get to know a different lifestyle, and hopefully learn a thing or two about what I want to do with my future while I'm here.