I grew up in a small, country town called Hockinson. Well, scratch that. I grew up in the unincorporated town that called itself Hockinson, but according to the US postal service was actually a part of Brush Prairie. But I digress. I used to think my hometown was more or less normal, if a bit uninteresting. But after moving to a college near a big city and meeting people from all walks of life, I’m starting to realize how different and strange small town life is.

The stereotype about little towns is that everyone knows everyone. Well let me tell you, that’s true all right, but it’s annoying as heck. When you go to a high school with only 700 students, you know everyone way too well. It’s been the same kids you’ve had classes with since kindergarten. You’ve seen the star football player wet his pants in first grade, and you can’t forget when the class president was a troublemaker in elementary school. Basically, there are no secrets. If you break up with someone, get in an accident, or get suspended, in no time flat the entire school will know. And soon it’s not just the students. Because the principle is actually the mother of one of your classmates, and she tells her friend whose daughter plays with your little sister. Sooner or later the whole town knows.

In college things are so different. Even though I go to a relatively small school, there's still significantly more people than there were at my high school. It's often strange walking around campus and not recognizing all the faces I pass by. Not that it's a bad thing. There's so many new people to meet and things to learn about. When you only have a few people, diversity tends to be low. Small country towns especially tend to be made up of one race, one religion, and one sexual orientation. Coming to college and discovering how many different types of people there were was overwhelming and a bit intimidating. I never thought of myself as sheltered, especially compared to some of my classmates, but there is definitely a lot you don't see out in the country.

Of course, knowing everyone isn’t so bad either. It’s more boring than anything else. That’s one thing you get used to; how boring small town life is. In my town, there was a small store, a gas station, and a coffee stand. Unless you’re into riding horses (which I am not), there’s really not much to do. Plus, being surrounded by the same people all the time can be pretty boring too. Eventually you just want to get away. But unfortunately, that’s not possible. Due to the lack of businesses in town, everyone does their shopping, socializing, and working in the town over. So if you’re running late for school but you just need that Starbucks coffee, there’s a chance your first period teacher will be there as well. Even if you’re just going to the grocery store for a few quick items, you have to make sure you look decent because it’s impossible to go without seeing at least one person you know.

There's also a bunch of things about small town living that aren't good or bad, but just plain weird. Or at least very different from any other living place. And honestly, a lot of these things fall under country town stereotypes. Lots of people own trucks, and often I would see trucks in the school parking lot still full of hay, tools, or even hunting rifles. Cowboy boots are considered normal school attire. Everyone owns a dog and at least one other type of animal, because there's not much else to do with the multiple acres of land most people own. I wouldn't call my family farmers, but I always forget about the fact that we do, in fact, have a chicken coop in our backyard. I was shocked when I heard some high schools don't have equestrian teams, and those that do aren't often a big deal. It just never occurred to me that horses could not be a big deal to people.

But as much as I bash on my town and the people who live in it, I wouldn’t have wanted to grow up anywhere else. As fun as it is to visit the city, I have never felt comfortable there. Back home, I’ve had the same friends for a decade, and we’re as close as ever despite being miles apart. All the random adventures we went on to escape small town boredom are some of my best memories. What my school lacked in size it made up for in spirit. Everyone in town came to the home football games and class spirit competitions were taken very seriously. And the country really is a pretty nice place. The rolling hills, the pastures of cute animals, and forests perfect for a late afternoon jog. When I’m away at college and things start to get me down, I lie out in the grass and watch the stars, wishing I could see them as clearly as I could in my little country town.