Growing up in a small town I definitely wanted to get away after high school. My whole life I dreamed of bigger and better places. I wanted to move on and never look back. After I moved to a new state, my whole view point changed. It wasn't what I thought it would be.
Have you ever had to move schools at a young age? Walking into the school doors not knowing a single person and feeling so alone. That's what living in a different state is like. All the streets you had memorized back home are no good. You can't tell East from West and you better just pray you never forget your GPS. The comfort of knowing where every store is, every short cut, is no longer there for you to ease back on. You have to relearn it all but twice as much. Your best friend doesn't live down the street she lives 1,000 miles away now. So coffee dates and shopping sprees are no more.
That little town you used to live in seems like a playground compared to the new city you have to drive through. All that construction you once complained about seems like a dream compared to the bumper to bumper traffic you have to drive through to get anywhere. I could go on and on about all the stressful things that pertain to a new state. The biggest problem was missing my family.
I was starting college, I was grown up. I was good on my own, so I thought. Home-cooked meals turned into ramen noodles and the desire to get out of the house turned to an ache in your heart, missing your parents and even your siblings. I no longer ignored my parents calls but sat by the phone waiting for them to call. My siblings never missed a chance to rub it in my face that they were at grandmas eating cookies. Before I knew it my brother was twice my size and my sister was keeping the sass in the house at an all time high.
I never thought I would say this but I wish I still lived in that small boring ole town. However, I learned so much from the experience of being out on my own. I now know how to cook without burning the food. I also have officially started going to the doctor's office on my own, and we all know how big of a deal that is. The most important thing I learned was to never give up. I kept following my dreams even when I wanted to drive all the way back to my parents and dive under my pink comforter while my mom cooked me chicken noodle soup.
I have never been more grateful for the amazing family I have and the true friends that stand by my side. The things that matter most are really put into perspective when you start out new. I encourage everyone to travel or even live in a different state because you'll always be able to go back home. The place I'm in now is where I'm meant to be but miles away sits a little town that will always be home no matter where I'm at.
