Coming to college, it’s easy to think that everyone is in the same boat as you since nobody knows anyone. Turns out, 99% of the people I meet are from the Chicago suburbs and everyone knows everyone. For the people who aren’t from the suburbs, I’m sure you can relate.
1. Having no idea where anyone is from. Believe it or not, even though your high school sports team won state in 2013, I still have never heard of it.
2. Having to explain where you’re from. Isn’t it amazing?! Hearing a town that’s not a suburb?! Who knew they even existed!
3. Memorizing your five minute spiel of your hometown location. For me, I usually start off with “I’m on the complete opposite side of the state as you” or I start naming things near me until they look uncomfortably confused. You’ll figure out what works best for you.
4. Getting asked if you’re from the city and responding, “which one?”. Let’s just say I didn’t think everyone would live 20 minutes away from each other…
5. Getting told you have an accent. No, you just have a Chicago accent.
6. Not knowing what Portillo’s is until you came to college. Yeah… We’ve been missing out.
7. Having to drive 3+ hours to see your friends over break. I hope one day I learn to love the traffic.
8. Getting serious fomo over school breaks because everyone lives by each other. It’s kind of like you’re there when you watch the snapchats.
9. Your friends are your tour guides when you go downtown. To you, it’s a whole new world. To them, it’s just a casual weekend.
10. Loving another town other than your hometown. After the countless visits, you learn to love it and may even see yourself in the city someday.