One of my greatest blessings in life is being raised in the South. Not many people can say that they had the privilege of growing up in the land where it is warm for most of the year. I grew in a small southern town where everybody knows everybody and where there is a good chance you are somehow related to or go to church with half of the people you see regularly. Life is slow enough where you can swing on the front porch and watch fireflies as you listen to the crickets chirp on a warm summer night.

In the South, college football dictates an entire season and Sundays are reserved for church. In the “Bible Belt,” the food is good, the people are sweet, and family is everything. Life moves slower and the words are longer.

Now that I am in college, I live and learn alongside an influx of people from across America and around the globe. Whenever I make an introduction, I can almost always count on a comment on my South Carolina drawl.

The first phrase is normally, “Oh my goodness, I love your accent! Where are you from?” or “Your accent is so cute!” and then the occasional, “I could listen to you talk all day.”

I have also heard: “What do you mean you don’t own cowboy boots?” and “I’ll turn on country music so you will feel at home.”

One of my friends recently pronounced all 3 syllables of a word and she began laughing, “I’m starting to sound like you!” she said.

Accents aside, my Southern upbringing runs much deeper than the way I pronounce words. Being Southern is more than the geographic location where you grew up. Being Southern is a way of life.

Being Southern is showing hospitality to all and remembering what you learned in Sunday school. Being Southern is knowing how to dress for every occasion and how to cook a variety of dishes. Being Southern is knowing how to treat others with respect and behaving the way your mama taught you. Being Southern is respecting your nation, showing proper manners, addressing authority with respect, and loving your neighbor well.

My Southern roots make me who I am and for that I am very grateful. Embrace your roots and the place that built you, wherever that may be, because so much of who we are consists of where we grew.

Many wonderful places are yet to be explored, but forever and always, my heart will long for the place where the tea is sweetest.