When I am questioned as to where I reside away from school, I immediately think to say "Fayettenam" and not my county's actual name (I have given up, entirely, saying "Masontown" mainly due to the fact that no one would notice it on a map even if the name was in bold, flashing font). I don't mean any malice by referring to Fayette County in this manner; it's simply an innate reaction. However, in hindsight (which they say is 20/20), the name seems appropriate.

To begin, let me say that no one can truly experience and--through experience--appreciate Masontown for what it is if you have not at one point or another lived here. You don't gain the knowledge to ascertain a proper opinion of any place for that matter by hearing about proceedings in the news or reading about them in the paper or passing by the location in question en route to another destination. Second-hand and historical representations of Masontown on sites such as Wikipedia (click on the hyperlink to be taken to their online encyclopedia entry based on my hometown) and the Borough's homepage (similar hyperlink) can only tell you so much, such as statistics/information on population, area, founding, etc. (Fun fact: if you look at the beginning paragraph of the Wiki entry and the brief description of Masontown on the town's website, you'll see some pretty blatant plagiarism.)

What these sites fail to tell you is that the area is grotesquely impoverished, not speaking on behalf of the populace since the Wiki page does seem to have figures on average incomes, but the town as an entity itself. Every time you blink it seems as if another local business is shutting down (the header photo for this article was so chosen because it captures what happens to many failed business buildings--abandonment and deterioration). Just recently, a local bar in the heart of town closed its doors...

...due to a shooting, which segues me quite nicely to the next aspect of life in Masontown not accurately depicted in collected data.

If you actively seek out information detailing criminal action in Masontown, you'll find numbers that don't encompass reality, particularly involving thefts/robberies.

These crimes have been an ongoing dilemma. I'd like to say daylight stops the perpetrators, but that isn't the case. In fact, people have become more apt to do so in daylight, knowing that homeowners are likely at work. So, imagine my surprise as I drive down the street in front of my home in between errands to find a man parking his vehicle just off the street and proceed to walk up the front steps of my house to take pictures of God knows what.

This very situation happened to me on Saturday, June 25, 2016.

Needless to say, I decided to take a moment out of my day to park right next to this man's vehicle, get out of my Jeep without giving it a second thought, and follow him around to my backyard where he was similarly taking pictures of the back porch.

Upon confronting this man (who at this moment I realized was an elderly gentleman), I was informed that he was a former owner of the same house that I've called my own for the past 21 years (minus my first few months where my family lived in Crafton). After clearing the air and apologizing for jumping to conclusions, we spent the next 20 minutes or so reminiscing about his fondest memories of the house--how his second daughter was delivered in a car right in front of the house by the neighbor who happened to be a doctor and how his father promised the family a pool when the war ended and held true to the promise in 1947 and many other intriguing stories.

When we said our goodbyes and parted ways, I looked at his card that he handed me and couldn't help but feel wrong for the way I acted. But, then, I realized that I am not to be held accountable for my actions. I am only a product of the environment in which I was raised. I was only acting how I felt appropriate to ensure my family wouldn't be the next victim in a string of criminal intent.

When I "grow up" and have kids of my own, I don't want my kids to grow up in the same atmosphere that I did. I'll most likely always stay relatively close to Masontown (mainly because I want my family to have the ability to play an active role in my children's lives); however, I don't want the environment around my children to teach them to distrust people just because they don't know them, like I did on June 25.

All things considered, to say that I am ashamed of my hometown is asinine. I know that I've spent the bulk of this article complaining about where I grew up and about its flaws, but when you look at my upbringing from the opposite side of the spectrum, Masontown taught me far more than what you see at face value. I had the honor of growing up in an area that taught me right from wrong. I had the honor of growing up in an area that taught me to expect more from myself.

Masontown gave me motivation.