As I was growing up, I don’t think I ever really took full advantage of the place where I grew up. I lived in the same town from the time I was born all the way until age 18, when I left for my very first semester of college. By then, I couldn’t wait to leave. I wanted to experience new surroundings, visit new places, meet new people. It wasn’t until I was away that I could fully appreciate how lucky I was to be from somewhere as great as my hometown.
I think everyone goes through a phase where they are incurably bored. Maybe it’s a generational thing, and it’s become ‘cool’ to be terminally negative. As I made my way through junior high and high school, I eventually became conditioned to believe that the place where I’m from was boring and the rest of the world was so much better. Now that I’ve gained the experience of living somewhere new, I can say without a doubt that I wouldn’t want to be from anywhere else.
Where else could I ever imagine making the memories I have with my friends and family as I grew up? I look back now and remember late night walks through my neighborhood with my friends, somewhere I always felt safe, or taking a drive with the windows down and my favorite song blaring and never having to check directions because where I was going was second nature. The chance of running in to someone I knew was practically greater than 100 percent, and I even knew some of the employees of my favorite coffee shops or boutiques on a first name basis. Football games with my high school’s across town rival were the highlight of every football season, where it seemed like the entire town came out to support their team. The crowd was decorated in each school’s team colors and the marching band would play even louder.
Maybe everyone feels unconditional love from where they were raised, because maybe it’s just the memories that make you smile every time you think of home. Even if that is the case, and where I’m from is just another town among the countless others, I’m proud to say where I come from, because no where else could have made me the person I am today.
