It's hard for some people from a college town to believe that some of these things are not average to grow up with, but for kids from a stereotypical college town, all of these are very normal.
When asked where I'm From I usually get a response like "oh, did you transfer here from there?" or "why didn't you just go to school there?"
No, I did not transfer from there, people live there and grow up there too. I always thought it was weird that others only thought of the town solely as the University but it makes sense now. The town literally revolves around the campus. A lot of people from a college town want to get out of it, just like how a lot of people feel about the town they grew up in. Some high school classmates stayed in the town and went to that college because that's the college they liked.
No, I didn't go to all the college parties when I was in high school.
Of course I've attended a few, but it was never a normal Saturday night event. In fact, if you were at a college party usually you'll want to lie and never tell anyone you're still in high school or you'll probably get kicked out.
Going to the University during school because they have better resources than the high school.
If i had a teacher that wanted to use a tool at the college or bring students to an event then they could. It was a great resource in the science classes especially. For example in some astronomy classes it was great because we could use the telescope and other tools to study the stars and planets. Its also very easy to take college classes in high school because the campus is only a few minutes away.
There are bars everywhere.
You cant make it a block downtown without passing at least two bars.
There are also a lot of pizza places.
In one town of 15,000 people there are 9 restaurants that promote themselves as "Pizza Places". if you want any kind of pizza, you can probably find it in my hometown.
There are 18-23 year-olds every where.
If you are walking down the sidewalk anywhere near the campus, chances are you'll have to dodge a few long-boarders and groups of college kids walking together. Trying to cross the main roads by campus when class lets out is a nightmare, you will sit at a few crosswalks for a while. Saturday afternoons in the fall will fill the town with tons of fans for the football game, especially on homecoming.
You became friends with college kids when you were younger.
Usually it's because you met them at work and became friends or you met them at a part.
Usually there are fun events open to the community and the university lets community members get a membership for their sports complex.
Its pretty great when it's the middle of winter with below zero temperatures and you can go play tennis or basketball or whatever you want to play. You can go ice skating or rock climbing or just run the track as well. Sometimes there will be cool concerts that are cheap or free like Jason Derulo or Philip Philips, and other cool sporting events.
The feeling of one community can be felt throughout the entire town and the university plays a huge role in that.
Falcon pride can be felt throughout the town and almost everyone in the town cheers on that team.
In all, growing up in a college town was great and i wouldn't change it for the world.
