Growing up and living on a farm is a completely different from suburban life. I’ve grown up in the “middle of nowhere,” beside “where’s that ville,” and a little south of “that place doesn’t sound real” town. The nearest kid my age is several miles of farmland away. Planning hangouts with friends at school can be difficult, too. I have to set up the date and time around a week early so I know that I’ll be in the Lovejoy area that day.  It’s a very secluded life; I never really had any true best friends growing up. Any friendship I had was strictly a school relationship. My summers were spent sitting around reading books and playing on computers and running around the pasture. Being able to go into town was something I looked forward to, so I could receive a glimpse of the social storm that is the suburbs.

There’s always a downside to happy things. In cities, it’s always loud and bright. Cars speed by houses, and oblivious teens drive home with their music blaring as loud as they can. Street lights keep everything lit, and there’s never a quiet moment. On the farm, there’s only my thoughts, the rustling of trees, the occasional wild rabbit, coyotes howling at the moon. However, without a nearby town producing obnoxious amounts of light, we see stars by the thousands. The sky is painted with the constellations and the planets, so magnificent on cloudless nights. It can make us feel like the smallest thing in the universe. There’s no way for a city dweller to experience that magic without traveling out of their light domes. Also being able to be away from it all can be quite nice. Not being stuck with people I dislike can be a plus.

School has also been a stretch for us. I live about 32 miles away from the high school. The only reason that I’m able to attend this school is because my mom’s job teaching sixth grade English in the district. Her school starts at 7:45 a.m. meaning she needs to be there at 7:15 a.m. We have to wake up at 6:00 in the morning and leave within a half hour to be able to make it to her school on time.

When my brother and I arrive at school at god-awful-early-in-the-morning, I just go to a practice room and sleep until school. My brother works after school at Kid’s First until 6:00 in the evening so I usually get home around 7:00 p.m. This usually leaves about 3 hours for any thing I have to do before bed. Time can be difficult for us.

All-in-all though, I’d have to say that I have the best of both worlds. I get to have the peace and quiet of farm life and the hustle and bustle of city life.