“You’re from Massachusetts? So, how did you end up in Charleston?”
I must have answered that question twenty times during my first few weeks of freshman year. To be completely honest, I am a Massachusetts girl at heart. I say clicker and bubbler, I cross the street without waiting for the walk signal (which is apparently frowned upon here). I love my dunks’ iced coffee and I have a never-ending love for the New England Patriots as well as every other Boston team. I definitely swear a little more than I should, and my driving, well…I don’t use my blinkah too often. So how did a Massachusetts girl end up in Charleston, SC?
I had other college choices, even an opportunity to continue to run competitively. It was a great offer, it checked off all the boxes of what I was “supposed to do.” I would have been close to home and my family. But the thing is, it just wasn’t for me. I didn’t want a continuation of the same thing; I wanted something different, and I didn’t really want to be close to home. I also wanted more than a college, I wanted a completely new place to explore and completely new adventures. I was looking for something a little out of the box that offered diversity, culture, history, and opportunity; a chance to step out of my safe zone and experience life outside of the bubble I had grown up in.
My family has vacationed on Hilton Head Island, SC almost every year since I was born, but it wasn’t until my college tour that I discovered Charleston. I was immediately captivated by “America’s Most Beautiful College Campus” and the admissions presentation convinced me that I had found my new home. Charleston is my forever happy place. Southern hospitality is alive and well here, and they DO welcome northerners with open arms and smiling faces. The climate, the landscape, the vibe of this beautiful, historic, small city on the water makes me grateful every day… and I rarely trip on the cobblestones anymore.
Now, it does have its challenges. The college doesn’t get many liberal, Massachusetts Democrat, political science majors, who don’t agree with the second amendment. It makes me stick out a bit but, that’s what makes it challenging and interesting… and that’s why I’m here. Whatever journey it is that I’m on, I have faith that I am going in the direction I was meant to. It all started when I decided to pop the bubble and do something I never thought I would ever do.
I have never been happier in my life than I am right now. I may be a New Englander born and raised but, Charleston is my home now. Anyone who has experienced it will tell you that there is something very special about Charleston. You can never really put your finger on exactly what it is, but falling in love with this school, this city and its people has been an amazing journey so far, and I can’t wait for what’s to come. They do say, once you move to Charleston, you never leave.