Why I Love Being a Big Fish in a Small Pond

 I grew up going to a small school in a small city where everyone knows everybody. There was rarely a time our family grocery trips were not extended 30 minutes because my mom ran into someone she knew in the produce aisle, the checkout line and the parking lot. Having the same classmates from kindergarten to my senior year of high school created a bond between us. We basically grew up together. Savannah was and is my comfort zone. With every single one of my friends going to in-state schools, why not follow them? Strangely enough, I felt a need to branch out. The next fall I moved to Tuscaloosa and only knew one other person. It was definitely a culture shock at the beginning but after a few awkward times of introducing myself, I began to make friends and completely forgot about home. People warned me that going from a high school with 400 students to a university with 38,563 would be overwhelming but I found an odd comfort of not knowing every person I saw at every moment. My trips to the store were half as long as the ones back home. My favorite part is that I have been constantly meeting new people from all different backgrounds since my parents dropped me off my freshman year. Moving to New York this summer was another jump to a big pond that I did not know what to expect. Luckily I found myself once again comforted by all the strangers and excited to learn from other people that were not exactly like me. From going to the University of Alabama and interning in New York, I realized that the small fish in a big pond is the life for me. Let’s hope after a few years I grow like one of those state fair goldfishes and make a name for myself while still enjoying the company of millions of strangers every day.