As final college decisions are just around the corner, and graduation just down the road, many students are growing increasingly anxious to take the next steps in their lives’ journey. For most, what immediately comes to mind is the idea of leaving home and venturing somewhere new.

While I am just as ambitious, with my big city dreams becoming much closer to reality, I have recently been bothered by some of the opinions of my peers regarding Carbondale, and similar small towns in general.

Almost every day whether in class or in the parking lot after school, I hear the same spiel from different people about how they “absolutely can’t wait to get out of this place”. I, formerly guilty of such negativity, used to chime in, nodding my head and giving way to the cliche I had grown up seeing in so many high school movies. You know, the ones where the soon-to-be-graduating seniors give up their exaggeratedly dull small-town lives in search of something new and extraordinary, preferably in the big apple or other extravagant cities.

While it is perfectly fine and respectable to dream of such feats, it is selfish to lessen and so quickly overlook the place that birthed them (and no, not always literally); the place that shapes one into who they are.

Carbondale is beautiful, and diverse, with one of the greatest senses of community most have ever known. And those who have lived here for decades, are typically the only ones to understand it. They are the same ones who are able to find beauty in seemingly simple things such as cornfields (which we certainly have plenty of), and the endless wonders of parks around us like Giant City State Park.

The overall goal is not to convince anyone that they should stay in Carbondale for the rest of their lives, but simply to appreciate everything that its given them. While we may dream of glamorous city adventures, we must accept that our lives would be so different had we grown up in them, and we would probably lack many of the values that we share today in our community. After graduation when you cross the stage and receive your diploma, which for most is a ticket out of town, give your small town some credit.