For me, this past weekend was fall break, and I am so thankful for this well deserved break. Between midterms and trying to stay on top of all my extra outside of class work, I was nothing short of exhausted.

Like many of my friends, I went home for fall break, which I’m usually super excited about. To me, going home means I get to do nothing. I can forget about schoolwork for the weekend and I can play with my dogs and give them all the attention they’ve been lacking in my absence. But something felt off this year going home. Sure, I was excited to see my family and dogs. I missed them, but other than that I really had nothing to look forward too.

I come from a small town where you have to drive an hour to Indianapolis or Cincinnati to find something fun to do. Unless you enjoy the farming life and staring at corn; if that’s the case, Batesville is for you. I go to school in Indy, so it seemed kind of pointless to go home. When I want to see my family or dogs, I just text my mom to see when they’re all free and they all come up to me.

All of my friends are also in Indianapolis. The friends I have from high school either currently go to school with me or another university where their fall break doesn't match up with mine. Being a freshman last year, I still had some friends in high school who were seniors, so it wasn’t as bad. I’d go see my friends at the football game and we’d get a bite to eat afterwards. This year, all I’ve done is listen to all the made up drama my hometown has to offer and attempt to entertain myself by watching reruns of old tv shows.

It’s a strange feeling to have. I always thought that somewhere deep down, Batesville would always be my hometown. The more time I spend in Indianapolis, the more I realize that I could care less if I ever came back to the town. Now when I think of home, I think of Indianapolis and my school. I’m comfortable there, I don’t feel any anxiety in the city and I feel like I can be myself. When I come to Batesville, I fear running into someone I know and having to act like the old me. I also feel like I’m never going to accomplish anything when I come down. Batesville is just a dead end town.

I don’t like dead ends, they stop the trail to opportunity and living in Indianapolis has made me realize how many opportunities are out there. I see all the potential careers paths I can take and, if my friends and I want to get crazy and have fun one night, there are other options that drinking in someone’s beat up old barn and listening to boring country music.