Many people think they grew up in small towns, but in reality, the population of those towns is anywhere from 10,000 people to 30,000 people. On the other hand, the town that I grew up in was about 4,000 people and some of the surrounding towns were anywhere from 1,000 people to 4,000 people.

If you really grew up in a small town, you'll be able to relate to most of these things listed.

1. The summer carnival

The summer carnival is what everyone looked forward to. Whether the carnival or fair was in town for a few days, or a whole week, you couldn't wait to get your lemonade shake-up and funnel cake. Children worshiped it, but parents dreaded it, because after all, their bank accounts were drained after carnival week. If you are like me, you looked forward to the carnival no matter how old you are, because it was a great excuse to hang out with friends and family. My friends and I would spend all day and night at the carnival, only going home to get lunch or dinner. We had to spend as much time at the carnival as we could, because it only came around once a year.could, because it only came around once a year.

2. So many familiar faces

You knew anyone and everyone who entered a high school gym, the local grocery store, or the gas station on the corner, and if you didn't recognize someone, something was up. Whether you liked to admit it or not, living in a small town had given you a sense of security for many years. You knew nothing could go wrong in your small town because no one could raise enough hell to ruin your perfect little society.

3. Flyin' down a backroad

Backroads were the best stress reliever. You could always count on a back road cruise to calm you down. Whether you were by yourself, with your best friend, or your significant other at the time, you felt much better after driving 75 down a road in the middle of nowhere. My town had country roads that were windy, hilly and hidden and some of the best memories I made were on those roads. Another outdoorsy activity my friends and I grew up participating in was hiking. We had trails in a nearby park that we spent a lot of time hiking through.

You grew up in a small town, and you might have had a few fast food restaurants here and there, but if you wanted to go out on a date night or see a movie, you had to at least drive 20 minutes to the nearest "big city." My town had slim to nothing when it came to places to eat and entertainment for people of all ages, so I spent most of my free time driving to cities nearby to eat lunch or go shopping.

5. High school football was everything

Friday nights were what everyone looked forward to. Whether you were 8 years old, 18 years old, or 48 years old, everyone wanted to watch your high schools football team dominate the opponent. Rivalry games were what got you through some weeks. Your high school football team got all the praise that they could get, even if they lost against your rivalry team. If any other sport won a big game or match, they didn't get much praise, but after four years, you kind of just accept the fact that football is all your school and town care about.

6. "Oh! You live near *insert well-known, big city*?"

My hometown is Metamora, IL. The closest city to me is Peoria, IL which is not that big of a city. But whenever I tell people at my college that I'm from Peoria they always say "Oh, so around Chicago?" Yeah, no, not at all. If you want to count "around Chicago" as being two and a half hours away, then sure. But in reality, I live in a cornfield.

7. Road trips... all day, every day

If you are like my friends and me, you were constantly on the road. Over the past summer, I made a countless number of trips to Chicago with my friends. I also went to Indianapolis, IN which is around three and a half hours away. Living in a small, boring town meant constantly wanting to see cities that had entertainment and things to do.

8. You will make friends of a lifetime

Grade school and high school brought you some of the best friends you ever made. You were going to be stuck with the same people for thirteen years, so you might as well make a good friend out of it. If your high school was like mine, there were multiple grade schools that threaded into the high school. I was so anxious about this freshman year, but some of the best friends I made were from those other schools that threaded into my high school.

A lot of people who come from small towns can relate to most of these points, if all, and if you can't relate to at least one of them, then face it, you aren't from a small town. These little things are what make my home town so special to me, like attending the local carnival every June. After growing up in the small town I am from, I am certain that I want to raise my family in a town similar to mine. There are so many of these points that make me love and hate my small town, but I wouldn't trade where I grew up for the world.