I left home with a bad taste in my mouth.

My small town life had lost its luster; I saw it as completely homogeneous, a vacuum, a place strangled by meaningless tradition and petty local politics. My unbroken routine had transitioned from being comforting to suffocating. After feeling disconnected for the past couple years, I was starving for a change.

My freshman year of college was enlightening.

To put it simply, I was no longer a big fish in a small pond. The everybody-knows-everybody stigma no longer applied. I loved being surrounded by thousands of new people with a wide variety of lifestyles, views, and personalities. Within my major, I was amazed by how likeminded some of my classmates and I were; I had never experienced anything like it. In my fraternity, I became close friends with people easier than I ever had back home. After finally experiencing a different life, I truly understand just how homogeneous most of my town's people are.

Coming home for the summer was shocking.

I think freshman year is supposed to change people, whether it is their social life, academic habits, views, or interests. It definitely changed me, and the entire world felt like a brand new place. That’s why it was all the more shocking to return home and feel like absolutely nothing had changed. Instead, the way I viewed certain things changed. Everything that used to mildly irritate me about the place, now drove me crazy. In contrast, everything I took for granted in my earlier years became more prominent, and I gained a newfound appreciation for it.

I realized who I really want in my life.

It is said that distance makes the heart grow fonder. However, distance can also make the heart grow cold or indifferent. Spending time away from the people I had been with my entire life changed my perspective on them. I realized that I didn’t actually like certain people; we were simply too different, and that was okay. I accepted that I didn’t care whether or not I saw other ones. I also learned which people really mean a lot to me, and I knew they were the ones I would always stay connected with.

I was reminded how much people cared.

Since my return, I have run into numerous former teachers, coaches, and family friends. It is refreshing to catch up with each of them, even if it is simply answering the standard “how was your school year” question. I was blessed to have passionate teachers and outstanding coaches who taught me more about life than they ever taught me about algebra or throwing a football. Most importantly, I felt an overwhelming gratitude for how hard my parents worked to give me a good life growing up.

I concluded that my time there was more valuable than I thought.

My feelings have shifted in the past year. This town will always have aspects I dislike, but it is also a place of solace. I'm the person I am today largely because of where I grew up, and I now recognize how important that is. I no longer see my hometown as the trap I had to escape from. Instead, I see it as the place that fostered and prepared me to leave all along, and ultimately launched me into the unfamiliar to make something of myself. That's what makes it so special, and that's why I now cherish each time I am able to come back.

It's no longer where I live, but it will always be home.