I’m proud to be from the suburbs of Detroit

I fell in love with Ann Arbor very soon after moving into college. The vibes of the city were so much different, so much more exciting — it had that big-city feel my hometown lacked. Ann Arbor is the epitome of a college town, while my hometown, to any outsider, is just another suburb in the Metro Detroit area. My hometown might not be as spectacular or exciting as Ann Arbor or any other large city, but it has still taught me so much and given me experiences as a child and young adult I will always be grateful for and hold close to my heart.

Definitely not as exciting as Ann Arbor but beautiful nonetheless

I grew up in Troy, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The experiences I had here while I was a child are what shaped me into the young adult I am today. My experiences and the city that surrounded me throughout my formative years shaped the way in which I view people and view the world. I’ve always thought it was only my upbringing that had a large influence on my personality today, but I have come to realize growing up in Troy played its own huge role in molding me.

Because Troy is a suburb of Detroit, I’ve always had the idea of the “comeback city” in my mind, especially in recent years. The resilience of Detroiters has passed on to me in the form of perseverance in my daily life, even though I’m not from the city itself. It’s given me an immense sense of pride in Detroit as well as the cities around it, ultimately affecting the pride I have in Troy as well.

Growing up in Troy, I have had the opportunity to meet people who are so different from me, allowing me to respect the differences in everyone I come across. The people I’ve been surrounded by, the friends I will keep for my lifetime, and the amazing teachers and administrators I’ve had the privilege to learn from — they have all allowed me to grow and have taught me values I will cherish forever, such as honesty and authenticity. These values have validated the love I have for my hometown, and they make me associate only positive memories and experiences with the city, especially now that my hometown is no longer my primary residence.

Some of the friends that I’ll keep for the rest of my life (as weird as they may be)

Troy was a place of several firsts for me, which is not surprising given that I had spent my entire life living within the city until college. It’s a place I’ll never be able to let go of. It’s a city in which I grew to be able to fit in with everyone else; a place where I defined and redefined who I was and wanted to be in the future. It’s the city where I went through the entirety of my schooling, saw snow for the first time, and learned how to ride a bike. Troy is where I spent my entire childhood, and it’s the city I will always associate with those happy memories.

The saying “home is where the heart is” suggests that “home” is an abstract categorization of people rather than an actual, physical place. While that’s certainly true, it undermines the impact a hometown can have on people. Troy has been and will always be another home of mine, regardless of whether my family remains there or not. It took moving away from Troy to realize the sentiment I’ve attached to my hometown, and even if other cities will begin to live up to a similar standard in my mind, Troy will forever be one of my homes and a place of comfort.