I grew up in a town with about 2,300 people. While that doesn't seem too small to some, I would like to point out that there are six times this many people that attend ETSU, so I didn't even go from one small pond to a larger one, it feels like I moved from a small puddle to a huge ocean. I never imagined I would miss this little ole town as much as I did.

One thing I learned was that yes, I missed having two main roads, no red lights (we do have a caution light though, we aren't animals), and seeing cows every day on my ride home. I also learned that I missed the people. For some reason, I never thought I would miss the people, but I did. I missed the cashier at the grocery store not knowing my name. I missed the little ladies from my church who would get so excited when I came home on the weekend. The last few months of school were hard for me. I didn't get to go home very often last semester, so I went home every chance I had. I found that my drives back to school became a little difficult, and I typically shed a tear or two until I got about 15 miles down the road. I wasn't homesick for my house or my bed, but I was homesick for the people.

My whole life, I heard people say they couldn't wait to get out of this town. For a time, I was one of them. I couldn't wait to get out of this sleepy town and go to what I thought was bigger and better places. I got out, I didn't go very far, but it was far enough to know that the people who stayed in our town knew a little something. I used to think they were scared to get out of town, and didn't want to do anything but die in the same place their parents did, and their parents before them, and on and on. Oh, how wrong I was. Johnson City isn't exactly a metropolis, but while I was there I felt like there was something missing. I shortly realized that I didn't need to be only five minutes away from a mall or have 50 restaurants to choose from. I needed to be around people who would give you the shirt off your back if you needed it.

Sure, I get a lot of jokes about the sleepy town I live in, but if I could go back I would choose to live here time and time again. We are behind on the times, don't have any big high schools, and our biggest social event of the week is going to church, but I wouldn't trade any of this for anything. Because at the end of the day I am proud of where I come from, and I plan to stay here and make an impact on this town like so many people have for me, as long as they will have me.