Why you should move away from your hometown

Being from a small town in Ohio, I was never exposed to many things in the world. I had a daily routine that never changed because nothing in the town never changed. I would wake up, go to school, go workout/practice, then come home. I drove the same road everyday, stop at the same gas station, and go get food at the same places (out of the three options that were in my hometown).

I decided when I was a sophomore in high school that I wanted to get out of the normal routine, I decided that I needed to look at colleges that were not close to my hometown whatsoever. I started going to workouts and practices in Columbus, I started traveling across the state to play softball games, and I started looking at schools away from home.

My parents and I sat down and we thought that looking at schools closer than a 2 hour radius to my home was too close for me, so we decided that I would look at schools in northern Ohio and out-of-state. It did not take long for my parents and I to decide that going out-of-state was better for me because it would expose me to more culture rather than just the small town idealistic image.

When I looked at schools in Pennsylvania, I fell in love with the state and knew that I would be leaving Ohio to come to Pennsylvania in just three short years.  Just getting the chance to explore new cities like Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, and Harrisburg was new to me and opened my eyes to a culture I had never seen before. All of the new people shocked me, yet fascinated me that not everyone has the attitude small town people have. People in cities had a different way of living and the quick pace of cities excited me because I had never experienced it.

After I visited these places and returned back to small-town Ohio, I did not like coming back to that town. I began to feel nostalgic and wanted to leave as soon as I could to go back to the bustling cities that I had the chance to be a part of- even if it was just for a weekend. I started to convince my mom to go with me to Pennsylvania a few weekends out of every month just so I could be in a place that made me happy again.

Being in the big cities I never felt judged by people like I did in my hometown because the people in the cities did not care about the citizens they pass on the street because there are so many people in the cities to care about. Also, I never saw the same thing twice when I was exploring the cities, I did not have an everyday routine where I drove the same road, had the same schedule, ate at the same places, or got gas at the same station.

When I graduated and attended college in Pennsylvania, my family noticed that I always had a smile on my face. I told them it was because I was just genuinely happy with life. I was happy because I did not see the same people everyday, I did not have to worry about anyone caring enough about to judge my every move- it was a whole new lifestyle that I became completely satisfied with.

Leaving my hometown opened multiple doors for me and allowed me to grow as an individual. I learned from my own mistakes. My eyes opened to the fact that, unlike the people in my hometown, people are unique individuals and do not conform to the ideal society like I was used to growing up. People in cities do not put their heart and souls into high school football games, they do not care if you have a last name that was popular at a certain high school, and they simply do not care about a person’s past or mistakes. Learning that not everyone was the same really helped me break out my individuality and be my own unique self because I knew that with the new people I met everyday, no one would care.

When I do go back to my hometown on breaks though, my immediate thoughts and wants are to go back to college so I did not have to worry about anything. I always want to go back to see the new friends I made in college, I want to see new faces everyday, I want to create distance between me and my hometown again. I do manage to go to Pittsburgh a few times during summer breaks though so I can see my friends and just be in the city that I have come to love so much.