When it comes to growing up in a small hometown, you either love it or you absolutely hate it. As for me, I love where I'm from. I am from a small town that no one has ever heard of, and growing up there has made me who I am today. Here are just a few things that I often think about, took for granted and wish I could go back to more than anything.
1. High school sports: more than playing.
My high school was the only high school in my hometown. Therefore, each Friday night football game, the stands were always packed full. It was always cute seeing the younger kids from the elementary and middle school, standing alongside the fence behind our home team getting excited, as one day, that would be them that made each Friday night special. In addition, after our football team would win, it was always the tradition of everyone singing “I Had a Little Rooster” to celebrate that made the night even more special. Along with football, basketball season was the same way. Our gym was always packed with fans. As for myself, I was a basketball player, and though I would never admit to it then, what meant more to me than winning was after each game, having people of all ages tell me that I played well (even if I didn’t) or just to talk about the game in general. I realize now how caring the people from my hometown were whether we won or lost.
One of the more important lessons I learned and want to pass along is that if you're currently a high school athlete, this is my advice to you. Always be the person that the younger athletes and students see you as. When you’re on the court or field, the younger kids see you as a hero, and trust me, they want to be like you one day, so it’s always important to set good examples. This is something I still carry with me today.
2. The country store (Critter’s Corner).
I solely believe that the heart of my hometown rests within a little store and restaurant on a corner (but we don’t call it a restaurant, because it's literally everything in between). If you're from a small hometown with something similar to this, you know that you eat there three or more times a week. As I was growing up, and even still to this day really, anytime I go in this store, I always make sure to walk through the whole place to see if anyone I know is in there (and let’s be honest, I always see someone I know). When I was in high school, everyone would always ask about the upcoming sports game, who was in trouble, who broke up with who/who is dating who and just anything else that came to their mind.
The best part about this place, other than the food, was just being around people who you knew and could always talk to. As for me, I went to college in another state, and though I do see this in other stores here, it doesn't benefit me any, and I realized quickly that I took something so small like this for granted.
3. The place we all hung out.
School and sports kept my friend group and I very busy during the school year. However, during the summer, we all had a special hang out place we ventured to almost every night of the week. This place was just an old barn that was made into a small basketball court. It was so small that we couldn't play 5-on-5 basketball, and 4-on-4 was pushing it. We would all go to this place to play basketball, sometimes football, to talk and to just escape for a night. The best part about it, even though it's hard to believe in this generation, we never thought that we had to resort to drinking/partying to have fun or to socialize.
I do want everyone in my hometown to know that my dreams may be a little bigger than the town, but if it wasn’t for those things, I wouldn't be the person I am today. So thank you.
