I grew up in a semi-rural suburb on the outskirts of southeastern Massachusetts. There were barns and cows along with highways and a single renovated AMC Theatre. You graduated high school with the same kids you ate glue with in kindergarten and in that, you made connections and your own little community within an respectively medium sized town. Moving to the city was an adjustment that I’m still becoming acclimated to.
My hometown was quiet in the sense that motorcycles zoomed by during the wee hours of the night every other month. You could look outside and see the stars and moon just peeking out of the dark skyline. Picturesque to the max. Boston, Massachusetts has ambulances and firetrucks blaring down the street every hour, especially considering the fact that my school is neighboring some of the nation’s most acclaimed hospitals. It’s interesting to see the bright lights streaming into my window and blinding my view of the night sky when I’m doing my homework, but it’s definitely something to get used to when I’m trying to sleep for a nine AM class the next morning.
The biggest and most exciting change from living in a small town to the city is the prospect of public transportation. I loved taking the T as a child, seeing everything whirl by in the window and having the opportunity to actually stand up while moving. It was simply unheard of for me and in the mystery of the unknown, I was enthralled. It wasn’t until this past year did I try to maneuver the stops and stations by myself and I didn’t mind walking to my destination and running to catch the last train before it left on me. Set stops and the whole city at your fingertips is amazing to me, even if it can be considered a bit dangerous at times to those who’ve never had the chance to use one of them.
I can’t say which is better, as I’ve only been in the city for three weeks. I can’t say that living in a quaint suburb surpasses the rush of city life. Nor can I accurately say that having the possibility to do anything and be anything, to see the diversity places all around you (having a river as well as multiple skyscrapers to look at is kind of beautiful) is not overwhelming at first. It’s new and exciting, unexpected and just downright different. There is a million things to accomplish and only so much time to get them done. A set amount of time to get used to so much difference in my current situation.
For any college freshman feeling the change of scenery and the emotions that come with it, know that it doesn’t have to be scary after all. Change can be a good thing, even if our brains disagree. Growing up means that getting out of your comfort zone could lead to some amazing things, we just don’t know what those things are yet. And that’s okay.
