I grew up in a small town, in a small school district, with little to no privacy. I knew everyone and and everyone knew me in my small town. There wasn't a time I ever had to doubt whether someone knew something about me or not because everyone's business and life is talked about, that's all there is to do, talk about people about people. So dating in a small town isn't too hard because even if you don't really know the person you're dating; you kind of do.

Most people I had been interested in growing up were not complete strangers. I may not have had a conversation with them, but I know who their parents were, where they lived, and if they had ever done something bad. So jumping into a relationship with someone wasn't as hard or scary, because I knew who and what I was getting into.

Fast forward to the college years and everything's different. We're attracted to people we've never met before, we don't know what their background is, we've never had a conversation with their mom in the grocery store because she lives down the street.

So starting relationships and dating becomes a whole new game. We have to teach ourselves to take chances and to take a leap of faith. No longer are we comforted by the fact that we just know who someone is because we just do. It takes a lot of courage to jump into something that could be more, but not knowing what that more might be. Mainly because WE DON’T KNOW THESE PEOPLE.

It's a strange concept, the idea of what dating looks like in different social environments. But it's a learning curve whether you're going small town to large city or the reverse. Either way, you're going to find yourself adapting to whatever the situation is, and finding yourself.