There was a time in my life where all I wanted was to get out of the small town that felt like it was swallowing me. I felt like I would never escape all of the people and all of the small town drama. I wanted to be in a place where nobody knew my name and I could go to a restaurant without seeing someone I knew. For almost all of high school, this was the case until I truly realized how much I love that small town where everyone knows everyone and there wasn't a place you could go without seeing at least one person that you know.

Home is where the heart is, and my heart remains in my small town.

It is really strange to some people that I know almost everyone in my graduating class, that consisted of 114 students. My school had the same amount of students that some high schools have in each individual class. No matter how many times I cursed that small school, I loved my time there. In a school like mine, you ended up graduating with most of the people that you knew when you were crawling around in diapers with.

The people you know growing up become forever friends and for the most part, nobody moves away so you go from Kindergarten to the day you walk across the stage at graduation. In a small town like mine one of the things that nobody missed was the football game every Friday night in the fall. It may seem so strange to some, but it is almost as if it's more of a lifestyle or religion rather than just a sport that plays once a week. The games each Friday night are a place for the community to come together and all share a common love — high school football in a small town (ever seen "Friday Night Lights"?)

There will be a time in everyone's life when they just need people to lean on, no matter how strong you think you are, you will always be someone. In a small town, you never have to worry about being alone. The people who you barely talk to will be one of the first people to show up at your door during a difficult time. In a small town, you are not ever alone. I grew up in a town without any kind of family, however, that was not really the case. Although I had no family related by blood, that by no means meant I had no family. The people who you grow around suddenly become family and it's like you have known them your entire life.

Living in a small town, there is a sense of "home" and there is really no place that can replace "home."