This article has been syndicated to Her Campus from Jenna Martyn, an InfluenceHer Collective member. Read the full post here.
Recently, since I’ve been in college and gotten the “where are you from” question, I’ve realized I’m not exactly “from” anywhere specific. I have moved 6 times, and not just moved to a different house one town over, but all over the country. I was born in Memphis, lived some in Nashville, also lived in Colorado, California, Arkansas, and now Oregon! So, really, I’ve been all over the country.
It’s funny because normally I think most people would assume a child wouldn’t prefer to move so many times. The constant leaving friends, making new friends, being at a new school, a new home, so much new in general would be scary for a kid. But I can’t think of one time I was upset about moving. In those movies where the parents tell their kids they have to move, the kids are always mad and give their parents a ton of grief. I remember going out to family dinner and my parents breaking the news to me and my brother and being really excited about a new place.
So, why exactly am I thankful I moved so much?
I know where I want to be.
Since transitioning from high school to college, and coming back during breaks, I’ve realized most of my friends absolutely hate coming home and are tired of our town. Most of my friends have lived here all their life, which is totally fine, but they have told me how ready they are to be in a new place, hence most of them going out of state for college. For me, I love our town. Just 15 minutes from Portland, it’s so cute and so much fun. But, I still have only been here for four years and am enjoying all it has to offer. Along with that, I now know exactly where I want to live. I knew I didn’t want to go out of state for school because I love Oregon. I have a sweet spot for The South, but I do not do well with 100-degree weather and 100 percent humidity. It’s also great because instead of questioning where I should apply for internships, or where I should seek opportunities, I know exactly where I want to pursue those things. I feel like I’ve spent my whole life adventuring and traveling that I know where I love to be the most. At my age, it’s comforting to be able to reduce any amount of uncertainty about life after college–even though I still don’t know exactly what I want to do, I do know where I want to do it.
Making new friends is easy-peasy.
Well, to a certain extent. It’s definitely still hard to make new friends and find who you click with and don’t, but I never experienced a lot of nerves when being in new situations where I didn’t know anyone. I remember being the new kid in my 6th grade class, looking to the girl behind me and saying, “So are you new too?” She wasn’t new and it was a bit awkward, but she and I actually became best friends for the next few years! I think everyone gets nervous to an extent when they’re in a situation where they don’t know anyone, but moving so much has made that a lot easier for me.
Read the full post here.