People generally hold a sense of pride in where they live. We show our love for our country, hometown, and state. It's normal to love where you live and tell the world a little bit about that love.

In Wisconsin, though, we seem to take that love to a whole new level. In college, especially at a large University such as the University of Wisconsin Madison, it is customary to ask people where they are from. With all this wonderful city has to offer, many out-of-staters are drawn to campus. When someone answers with a difficult to pronounce Wisconsin city, the eyes of the locals light up and catchphrases are often rattled off to show a sense of togetherness.

My response of "I am from Waukesha, Wisconsin," has been met with slogans such as "Keep er Movin'," and "Go Packers." Hearing such responses warms the Wisconsin cheese wheel that sits where most people have a heart.

The sports fans here may be part of a reason we harbor such great pride in our Dairy State. Leave it to Wisconsin to have some of the best fans in the country. We stayed with the Bucks for years before the Greek Freak blessed us with victory and excitement. We still cheer on the Brewers even in what has been an ongoing succession of "rebuilding years."

We sit through temperatures cold enough to freeze beer at Lambeau Field to watch our personal messiah, Aaron Rodgers, take the field (get better soon). We sport red and white in unfathomable amounts to cheer on the almighty Badgers. Personally, my favorite thing about Wisconsin fans is that they are spread out across the country. Even when I travel, I know I will come across someone who will smile ear to ear when a score update from our home state flashes across the television screen.

We love Wisconsin so much because it shapes who we are as people: a bunch of well natured midwestern folks who pronounce vowels just a bit sharply. What doesn't kill us makes us stronger. We endure the two seasons we have, road construction and winter, together. We endure freezing temperatures and sweltering humidity as a collective unit. We bounce back from our struggles.

When people make fun of Wisconsin, we come together as a collective and shout from the tops of hills left by the carving of the glaciers just how much love we have for this state. We rattle off all we have to offer, and why are our shortcomings actually posses silver linings.

What do we have to offer? We have Summerfest, an affordable music festival with ten whole days of happiness. We have custard stands in every small town, serving a product superior to normal ice cream. We have more lakes than Minnesota and better drivers than Illinois. That is simply just a small laundry list of all the wonderful things we have to offer.

So, why do Wisconsinites love Wisconsin so very much? Honestly, I cannot fully explain why we are so passionate about this state, but I can say I am so thankful we are. Every kid that grows up in Wisconsin will recall how much of a blessing it was, and a piece of our cheese wheel hearts will always lie in one of those hard to pronounce towns, probably next to a bubbler somewhere. Forget all the other relationship goals-find someone who loves you as much as Wisconsinites love Wisconsin.