I FUCKING LOVE THE EAST COAST.
Updated: Sep 6, 2018
Milford, Connecticut
As a kid I remember being fascinated with this large map we had in my basement. At the time it was about twice the size of me. I would stare at it all the time and think to myself, “Wow look how big Texas is! And look how much bigger Alaska is! The world is huge!” But that was the extent of it.. At some point this map was taken down, I grew up and grew less fascinated with the size of the world. The fascination quickly changed focus to what was around me and who I was spending time with.
Fast forward to high school and by then I had made a great core group of friends. Things seemed like they were in a spot that would never change – we would all go off to college and eventually come back and be right where we were like nothing ever changed.
Then I noticed that half my friends either didn’t go to college or dropped out half way through to pursue other interests. I was so thrown off. None of them were dumb by any means, so wouldn’t the next step be to graduate college? Live in a new area? Just as I grew more interested in the idea of living somewhere new it seemed everyone felt the opposite. I wondered if finding the job closest to home was truly the next move? I mean everyone else was doing it!
Eventually I reached a point that made me realize I had to try something new. I had just been dumped by a long term girlfriend (ouch) and all my current leads on internships for the summer had fell through. At the time it seemed as if nothing was going to go my way.. until it did. Before I knew it I was on my way to New Jersey for a 6 month internship that eventually led to a full time career in Connecticut.
To this day I would have NEVER imagined myself in little old Connecticut. But I am so thankful that I went against what was around me and moved to a new area because I would have never experienced the millions of things out here on the East Coast. Living in Michigan I would have never ran a marathon in Maine, I would have never skied in Vermont and New York. I would never have met the life long friends I have met while here.
Connecticut may not be my forever home, but for now its everything young me was looking for on that map many years ago.