With a population of about 17,000, St Andrews is a small town. Everybody knows anybody, rumors spread, and reputations matter. I didn’t fully comprehend the latter until my chaperone requested my roommate Zack take off his jacket which branded our group’s logo. It was 11:30 P.M., we were heading to the pub, and we were all teenagers.

I had a valid I.D., but the bartender wouldn't serve me an IPA. Every restaurant was closed so I settled for Chinese take out even less authentic than Panda Express. The walk from downtown to our dorm room was only two miles, but we still managed to get lost.

But small towns have their perks. I can run into a cute stranger twice in one day and walk through Lade Braes hearing silence apart from my thoughts. I can pretend I'm in an Ed Sheeran song as I drive down the country lanes and inhale air so clean it doesn’t feel natural. Sunrays transfigure into raindrops within the span of nine minutes here. I’m soaked down to my socks, but I stay in the clearing and play until dark.

Before I boarded my flight back home, I thought I was mistaken when I saw the same stranger enter the airport. I’m not the type to be passive. He was walking past me and I knew I had ten seconds to shoot my shot.

“Hey, aren't you the guy I bumped into on the Old Course?”

Small towns are quiet, slow, and stringent. But small towns grant second chances I thought would wash away with the rain.

His name is Andrew. He plays ice hockey for Xavier. He lives in Cincinnati, but he was originally from my hometown.

As I sit in my favorite coffee shop writing this, it amazes me how every single second led up to this. I could have chosen not to go to Scotland, I could have chosen a later tee time, I could have chosen not to introduce myself.

In less than ten days I’ll be moving to Los Angeles. I’m moving away from home for the first time, away from familiarity and closer to calamity. Feeling a mixture of excitement and anxiety, I'm anxious to see what a large city will bring me. With a population close to 4 million, Los Angeles is far from a small town.