So, I’m not going to lie to you…Mississippi gets a lot of heap from simply being Mississippi. I think that in every single article that I have read, Mississippi always rounds out the list at either 49or 50.

Okay so maybe Mississippi, doesn’t stand up in comparison statistically to its 49 other brothers and sisters, but I promise that Mississippi is a one of a kind place that you wouldn’t want to trade for the world.

Mississippi, on the surface, may be full of back roads, towns you can’t pronounce, and sweet tea by the gallon at any restaurant all across the state; however, the ‘sip is so much more than its labels and quirky characteristics.

It is this place that embodies what it means to possess genuine hospitality; it is this place that says, “yes sir and no ma’am;” and it is this place that would take the shirt off its back to lend a hand to its neighbor.

This goes without saying that Mississippi has done some awesome things since its’ founding in 1817.

It is here that literature truly changed: shout-out to William Faulkner, Eudora Welty, Tennessee Williams, and John Grisham.

It is here that medicine changed forever: the first lung, heart, and kidney transplants happened right at home.

It is here that music was established, thank you to Elvis Presley, B.B King, and the countless others.

It is here that history remains alive in cities like Natchez, Vicksburg, and Jackson.

So don’t count out Mississippi before it is given the chance to prove itself, because I promise you that it can contend with the best of the best.

Yet even beyond who the ‘sip is as a state, it is a simple fact that being a Mississippian gives one the ability to say, “This is my state, and this is my history, and these are my people.”

A Mississippian is someone who takes on the role of “The Hospitality State,” and truly defines why the state has the nickname in the first place. A Mississippian is one who takes that back road to work and knows every single one of their neighbors by name.

A Mississippian is so much more than a citizen of the state, yet they are someone who makes the state a home; one who understands what it means to slow down and enjoy the simplicities in life, and one who gets the privilege to both shape the culture around them while also being shaped by it.

I would say that it is safe to say that Mississippi is one of the most unique places in the world, I mean William Faulkner did say, “To understand the world, you must first understand a place like Mississippi;” of which I am not quite sure if anyone will truly be able to put Mississippi under one definition, more or less understand it.

Yet, I still am able to wholeheartedly say that Mississippi is home…it always will be, and I am thankful for who this place is and for everything that it has taught me to be.