With senior year approaching, many kids already have their minds set on where they want to go for school. Ultimately, it comes down to one thing – staying close to home, or getting as far away as possible. I fall under the “getting as far away as possible” category. This may seem harsh, and the amount of times I’ve gotten asked how could I want to leave all my friends and family behind – isn’t your life here great – what about all the memories made here – I’ve lost count. It isn’t a personal thing towards any one person. I’ve outgrown my small town, and that’s okay.
Everyone in small towns knows each other. While it is nice to always have your people and have them be consistent, it makes you wonder if they are all that is out there in the world. I’m aware you do meet a variety of people in college, but the concept of being able to completely leave this town and the people in it behind is amazing to me. It’s compelling to know that I can completely alter my life and the people I associate myself with just by deciding where I want to go to college. How I see it is if I go far away, it’ll be harder to keep myself connected to my friends. Many may see this as a negative thing, but it causes all the people who weren’t actually my friends to filter themselves out.
With everyone knowing each other in a small town, everyone is bound to know your business – always. This stood true beginning in even elementary school. If I stay close to home, people are still going to know what I’m up to – there’s a high chance either locals are going to go to the same school as me, or that someone in my town will know someone who goes to school with me. I want to disconnect from the people I have known since I was born and obtain new experiences and with that, new faces to call my friends.
I need something different. I feel as though everything tends to be the same around here – the same drama, the same types of people, the same things to do, and the same places to eat. I love nothing more than experiencing new things and I embrace change to its fullest extent – hence why I feel like I need to go to a college far away. There's an entire world out there and some people never get the ability to see it. By doing leaving my small town, I would surround myself in a new culture of people, with new activities, new styles of food, and even new styles of clothing. My life would be so different, and I’m comfortable with knowing that.
Maybe I am not too fond of my town or maybe I just want a new experience. Either way, I feel as though eventually everyone hits a point in their life when they feel like they need to just pick up and start fresh somewhere. I have reached this point, and can’t wait to start my journey next year. I will always love my small town even though it came with its fair share of unpleasant experiences, but change is good, and in my case, needed.
