In the twenty years of my life, I have lived in the same house and the same town, Downs, IL, for 15 years. I have grown up around the same people, environment, and cornfields since I was born. I live in a town with a gas station as the main attraction, along with two bars and a park for extra. When I was in school, I attended the same school district for all 13 years; all with the same people and same faces to see every day. Over half of my graduating class (74 people) was in this situation. We all went through each grade level together. Growing up in a small town had its ups and downs. You never feel like a fish out of water. You always had at least a friend or two in each class. In its downfall, you know everything there is to know about everyone. There is no privacy when you’re living in a town of less than 2,000 people.
I grew up in a tiny town right outside of a ‘big’ city. That city being around 100,000 people. I know my way around the corn and soybean fields like the back of my hand. I could tell you the first and last names of every single person that attended my high school. My whole high school only had around 350 people. Going to a university where the average person’s graduating class had that many people, it was quite the adjustment that not everyone understood what coming from a small town was like. I live in the constant struggle of the question, “So, how far away is your town from Chicago?”
Coming from a small town, then attending a rather large university, it is sometimes difficult to adjust coming home for long breaks. I’m not a five minute drive from my favorite restaurants. I don’t have to worry about the 5:00 p.m. rush hour on my college campus when I’m driving, and the sounds of trains don’t fill my room at odd hours of the night, like when I’m at my university. I remember last year I was so excited to come home for a long break, not having to worry about anything. This year, the break taught me something new.
I learned that my hometown isn’t really for me anymore. My hometown, Downs, IL, doesn’t really ‘do anything’ for me anymore. I drive past my high school, and I don’t really miss being in the halls like I was, less than two years ago. I don’t feel like Downs is where I belong. These past two years in college, I have learned and experienced so many different things being away from what I thought was ‘normal’ back in high school. Being away, I have really grown up and matured; college has taught me so much in the such short amount of time I've been there. So much has changed in the short amount of time I have been away. New homes have been built, new people have moved into the homes around me, restaurants and new places have been built, but inevitably, everyone has grown up. What I feel when I come home is much different than when I was growing up.
I’m not saying I don’t appreciate all the memories that the first 18 years of my life brought me. In fact, it’s just the opposite. After experiencing life away, or just not always being around my small town, I have appreciated the life outside and being away. This winter break, I realized that even though I appreciate my hometown and what it was like when I was younger. It is time to branch out, experience new things, and be in a different environment than what I was when in I was younger. To Downs, IL, I’m grateful for everything that you provided me when I was growing up; but, it’s time for me to step away and be somewhere new.
