While only moving 15 miles from home to go to college may not seem like that big of a paradigm, going from living in a small town with 500 people to a college town with 50,000 people was. It was more than just moving from a house with 50 acres all to myself into an apartment with no backyard. It really changed my lifestyle and made me realize things (some good, some bad) that I had never realized before. So below is my list of things that happened to me, and maybe to you too, that happened when I left good old Cambridge, Iowa.
1. You realize you are a terrible driver. What are one way streets and why do I always hit every damn red light?! Most of the roads back home don't even have center lines, and now you're adding 2 more lanes to each side of the road. I haven't killed myself yet or any other drivers (I can't say the same for a few squirrels and a stray cat here or there), but I have come pretty close. When people honk at you it's because you did something wrong not because they wanted to say hi. The only hand signals you see are other drivers flipping you off. However, when it comes to gravel travel, you can out drive any city driver any day.
2. You aren't allowed in the bars. Most college town bars don't even serve lunch during the day (what's a bar without some dang good bar food?!), and if you aren't 21 you're not even allowed in the door. My home town bar has such a family friendly atmosphere (before 8 o'clock of course) and some of the biggest events in town are weekends the bar has monthly Meat and Cheese Paloozas. The bar scene is definitely way different in the "big city".
3. You dread getting stuck behind a bus more than a tractor. At least the farmer down the road doesn't make twenty different stops in a 10 block distance. Being stuck behind a CyRide at 7:30 am when you're trying to make it to your 8 am is every college student's worst nightmare. You don't mind being able to ride the bus yourself, but you're not a fan otherwise.
4. You don't always know/like your neighbors. I live in an apartment with people on either side and across the hall from me whom I have never met and barely even see. Definitely a big change since our neighbor boys back home, who live more than 10 feet away from me, are practically my brothers. You also don't have to worry about your neighbor's calling your parents when you have a party...you have to worry that they won't call the cops!
5. Your radio station preference changes. Your strict only country pre-set radio stations soon get replaced by a few pop stations. It's not that you like them or anything because you definitely don't! You just want to keep up with what everyone is singing on campus and so forth. Lies. You secretly jam out to Shake it Off and Uptown Funk every time you get into your car. Though, you will never ever replace that radio station that plays 90's country because you jam out to Shania Twain a whole lot more than T-Swift and that will never change.
6. You filter out your friends from high school. You all get so busy and move away, but you soon find out who your "real" friends from high school were. You may not see them everyday, but you still know they care about you. A lot of my friends from high school do attend Iowa State with me, but I rarely see them or hear from them. It's not that you're mad at each other or don't like each other anymore, you just have prioritized things differently and have met so many more awesome people.
7. You start locking your doors. This was a huge change I noticed in myself. Back home we always left everything unlocked and left our keys in the ignition. Now, I freak out when I can't find my keys in my purse and I have spent many days on campus worrying if I remembered to lock the apartment or not. Even when I go back home to Cambridge I don't leave the keys in the ignition just by habit. I never thought I would do this, but the city life changes you.
8. You really start to appreciate your family. Granted mine are only 15 minutes away, but it still made a big difference in our relationship. My sister and I get along a million times better now that we don't live together, and my mom's cooking never tasted better. You meet a thousand new people once you leave your hometown but you know that your family will always have your back no matter what.
9. You decide whether home is really the right place for you. Those kids who "never want to leave" find out that maybe your path in life doesn't always lead you back to your home town. While those kids who "just wanted to get out" realize that maybe small town life isn't so bad after all. I haven't quite figured out if I'll end up back in Cambridge or not, but I have a good idea where I would ideally end up. After high school graduation all I wanted to do was "see the world" and now I can't see myself ever moving too far out of Central Iowa.
10. You can start your own reputation. When you're stuck in your small town everybody knows you (or related to you) and everybody knows what you did growing up. You can drop all that baggage off when you're crossing your number off the population sign on your way out of town. This is your time to be who you want to be. You get to break all those stereotypes that labeled you in high school. No one knows you yet and not everyone will when it's all said and done. Take advantage of being able to start over and find who you want to be or don't want to be.
1. You realize you are a terrible driver. What are one way streets and why do I always hit every damn red light?! Most of the roads back home don't even have center lines, and now you're adding 2 more lanes to each side of the road. I haven't killed myself yet or any other drivers (I can't say the same for a few squirrels and a stray cat here or there), but I have come pretty close. When people honk at you it's because you did something wrong not because they wanted to say hi. The only hand signals you see are other drivers flipping you off. However, when it comes to gravel travel, you can out drive any city driver any day.
2. You aren't allowed in the bars. Most college town bars don't even serve lunch during the day (what's a bar without some dang good bar food?!), and if you aren't 21 you're not even allowed in the door. My home town bar has such a family friendly atmosphere (before 8 o'clock of course) and some of the biggest events in town are weekends the bar has monthly Meat and Cheese Paloozas. The bar scene is definitely way different in the "big city".
3. You dread getting stuck behind a bus more than a tractor. At least the farmer down the road doesn't make twenty different stops in a 10 block distance. Being stuck behind a CyRide at 7:30 am when you're trying to make it to your 8 am is every college student's worst nightmare. You don't mind being able to ride the bus yourself, but you're not a fan otherwise.
4. You don't always know/like your neighbors. I live in an apartment with people on either side and across the hall from me whom I have never met and barely even see. Definitely a big change since our neighbor boys back home, who live more than 10 feet away from me, are practically my brothers. You also don't have to worry about your neighbor's calling your parents when you have a party...you have to worry that they won't call the cops!
5. Your radio station preference changes. Your strict only country pre-set radio stations soon get replaced by a few pop stations. It's not that you like them or anything because you definitely don't! You just want to keep up with what everyone is singing on campus and so forth. Lies. You secretly jam out to Shake it Off and Uptown Funk every time you get into your car. Though, you will never ever replace that radio station that plays 90's country because you jam out to Shania Twain a whole lot more than T-Swift and that will never change.
6. You filter out your friends from high school. You all get so busy and move away, but you soon find out who your "real" friends from high school were. You may not see them everyday, but you still know they care about you. A lot of my friends from high school do attend Iowa State with me, but I rarely see them or hear from them. It's not that you're mad at each other or don't like each other anymore, you just have prioritized things differently and have met so many more awesome people.
7. You start locking your doors. This was a huge change I noticed in myself. Back home we always left everything unlocked and left our keys in the ignition. Now, I freak out when I can't find my keys in my purse and I have spent many days on campus worrying if I remembered to lock the apartment or not. Even when I go back home to Cambridge I don't leave the keys in the ignition just by habit. I never thought I would do this, but the city life changes you.
8. You really start to appreciate your family. Granted mine are only 15 minutes away, but it still made a big difference in our relationship. My sister and I get along a million times better now that we don't live together, and my mom's cooking never tasted better. You meet a thousand new people once you leave your hometown but you know that your family will always have your back no matter what.
9. You decide whether home is really the right place for you. Those kids who "never want to leave" find out that maybe your path in life doesn't always lead you back to your home town. While those kids who "just wanted to get out" realize that maybe small town life isn't so bad after all. I haven't quite figured out if I'll end up back in Cambridge or not, but I have a good idea where I would ideally end up. After high school graduation all I wanted to do was "see the world" and now I can't see myself ever moving too far out of Central Iowa.
10. You can start your own reputation. When you're stuck in your small town everybody knows you (or related to you) and everybody knows what you did growing up. You can drop all that baggage off when you're crossing your number off the population sign on your way out of town. This is your time to be who you want to be. You get to break all those stereotypes that labeled you in high school. No one knows you yet and not everyone will when it's all said and done. Take advantage of being able to start over and find who you want to be or don't want to be.