You go off to school and quickly wish away everything from the past. You’re eager to explore a new city and can’t wait to know the ins and outs and consider it your second home. That being said, after a short amount of time, you’ll start finding yourself talking about things back home, bragging about all the incredible things there are to do there. You’ll argue with your friends, making a list of all the reasons why your hometown is better than theirs. It isn’t until you move away that you truly appreciate how lucky you were to grow up where you did.

Although throughout high school you would complain about the lack of things to do, once you go off to college, you realize it wasn’t so bad. At school, you’ll miss eating your favorite foods at your favorite restaurant. You’ll miss going to your favorite teams sporting event. You’ll miss being able to easily navigate your way throughout the city and taking night drives on familiar streets. You’ll even miss just being at home getting in stupid fights with your family.

It’s not that you dislike your new college town; it has its own special attributes. It’s fun to be out of your comfort zone and do new things, but you quickly realize how comfortable you were in your routine at home. It’s fun, however, to roam campus and see everyone representing their hometown pride with an eclectic variety of sports jerseys and you proudly join in on the trend.

You most likely swore you would never live there when you grew up, but the older you get and the more time you spend away, you could easily see yourself living there in the future. You want all your friends to come visit you and plan an itinerary of all the fun things to do before any trips are planned. You may be a hometown hero, but you own it and rock what your city gave you.