Sometimes I just think about life...

…and I am amazed at how things turn out.

If you talked to me two years ago, I was adamant about my future. I was dead set on going to California for college and never giving these cornfields of Indiana a second thought. I would rather roam the hills and coast of San Francisco, scraping up whatever major I could to meet my interests. It was a long shot, but it’s what I wanted.

I’m not sure I could be anymore happier that this is not my reality now.

I can’t believe I was ever going to throw away the education am I getting now for some half-assed curriculum at just another general state school far away that I knew nothing about.

I can’t believe I was simply going to disregard Ball State’s phenomenal reputation for their Journalism department, especially Graphics and Advertising, and just get a general education elsewhere.

I can’t believe I was so discontent with Indiana that I was going to pass up a quality education with some of the best professionals and professors in the nation, one of the best programs in the nation, full of endless opportunity and excitement and connections, a program that would open so many doors for me in life.

I can’t believe I was ever going to just let that slip between my fingers…
all because I was sick of my hometown.

Well guess what, I’m not sick of Indiana anymore.

Do I still itch to get out and see the world? YES.

Do I still think I’ll begin my life after college elsewhere? YES.

But do I regret staying here? NO.

And I’ve grown to appreciate it so much more.
Not just because of the opportunities I have here, but just because of what it IS.

Indiana is my past, my home, my present.
It’s my childhood memories, my family, and everything that is familiar.
It’s the harsh winters I hate, but the exquisite autumns that I wouldn’t trade for anything.
 It’s everything that has made me into who I am today, right now.
It’s where my dreams began, even if those dreams want to take me somewhere else.

How could I not appreciate that?