Before I get going with this week’s entry, I’d like to welcome all my readers and all the students back to IU and your perspective colleges. Welcome to 2012, and considering how you believe this year will go with the whole “Mayan Doomsday” thing (which I think is a big piece of rubbish) I hope you have high hopes and a positive outlook to live by. Now, let’s get started.

A new semester means new thoughts; And although these thoughts that I will discuss in this week’s Blog aren’t necessarily new (meaning that at some point in their lives, everyone has thought this), they maintain an inkling of truth. Over break, many of us ended up going home to see our friends and family for three weeks of sleeping, eating, and merriment. We saw old friends that we haven’t seen in weeks or months; and in some instances, we were forced to return to a place that, when we came to IU, we swore that we would never return.

It’s not a bad thing to hate your hometown. In our life of loathing and growing, we develop appreciations for places that have become home to us. For some of us, that place is Bloomington, and we are able to call it a new home for 9 out of 12 months of the year. We are leaving our hometowns and families to be somewhere new where we can be self-sufficient adults, forging our own path, and making our own networks that were oftentimes not possible in our hometowns.

For some individuals (such as myself), our hometowns are the most dreaded places on Earth, and there is no choice but to leave.We see those places are something to overcome, which is why we often to go college in the first place. It’s the oldest story in the book; A person with humble beginnings plans to leave and learn so they can forget their past identity and change their life for the better and pretend like they were never from their cruddy little town in the first place. So with our new year, we must remember our origins and understand that it is not that big of a deal if you are ashamed of your hometown. There is no shame in growing up and finding our own ways in the real world, just remember to stay positive about it. Don’t let your past get you down.

 

By: Sarah Hetrick

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