Siara's Thoughts On Staying Put
- Siara Carpenter
- Nov 25, 2023
- 2 min read
This weekend was Thanksgiving and many people went back to their home towns. I was one of them. Going back to my small town in Illinois is always...insightful to say the least. You run into old classmates and decided whether or not to speak to them in the Target. You see old classmates' parents and wonder if they remember you how you remember them. You see a new crop of high schoolers learning to drive and going to parties. But most importantly, you see everything you left behind. You see your cat who has aged and gained plenty of weight. Your car with wear and tear. Your favorite part of the house now turned into something, different.
Coming back is always a shock for me. Everything stays, but changes. Things are the same physically, but internally it's different. The change is more drastic, but if I stayed it still would have changed, just slowly. I know people that are afraid to leave their hometown. People that would rather permanently stay with their family, in their comfort zone. As someone who left because they had gotten into a school on the opposite side of the country, I did not have that luxury. I love living on the opposite side of the country, I have had to learn so much about myself and another culture. But for those who stay put, they don't understand how to grow. You might move later in life and not have the same community you would have had if you were younger. I think staying put forces you into a comfortable state that can make you afraid to ever leave, in essence, it stunts your growth.
Siara, you write from a place of your personal truth and I really appreciate that. I relate to you in the fact that moving across the country for school is anything but easy. It was even harder for me to return home than the last time I did cause It meant I had to pack up my childhood home entirely and help my parents move to a new state. I miss everything you talked about. The unexpected changes, the aging cat, and awkward confrontations with old classmates were always fun. Yet, I too agree that moving away has given me the space for so much growth. It's crazy to know that we did it... and continue to do it well.…
Thank you for sharing your thoughts with us. I totally agree with you that we should never stay in our comfort zone, especially at an age when we should be growing. I personally get overwhelmed easily by even small challenges, so learning to adapt to school near my hometown has not been easy for me. I'm so glad that you are able to experience new things though! I hope I get to do the same one day.
Since I'm from LA and go to college here, I have a hard time separating my childhood with my emerging adulthood. I find myself at the same cafes that I went to with my friends in high school. Going to the same beach on weekends. Shopping at the same stores. I'm thrilled to share my pockets of LA with my college friends, but it is weird to have little separation from my adolescence. Though I would love to move to New York or somewhere new after graduation, I wonder if staying in LA for this long has stunted my personal growth. I hope this is not the case, and I do still feel like I have evolved as a person,…
The Target point is so true haha. I used to dread going to the Target or Kroger in my hometown because there was only one of each and you were bound to see an old high school classmate or teacher strolling through the aisles. I also find coming back home a double-edged sword due to the feelings that arise–on one hand I am so happy to be back and I'm even happier to be back in my bed, but on the other hand I have to live by rules I don't enforce and I always find that to be difficult. Additionally, having moved out of my hometown, I don't speak to many people back home anymore because we don't live…
Moving away from home to college is intimidating, and being able to stay in you "comfort zone" is enticing beyond belief. It can feel scary to be a little behind and disconnected from what was once so familiar and easy. Kudos to you for moving across the country and pushing yourself to grow. Despite the growing pains that can come with acclimating to a new environment, I'd argue that the experiences and change that come out of it can be beyond worth it, and being able to attend school far away is a luxury in itself too!