I am going to start off by stating how much love I have for my home state of New Jersey, just so “ya’ll” aren’t mislead by anything I say. New Jersey will always have a piece of my heart, but as South Carolina is now my new home, it has taken a lot for me to adjust.
Since I was just about fourteen years old, I knew that USC was the place for me. I absolutely fell in love with everything South Carolina had to offer after my first tour of the campus… but back then I wasn’t aware of just how different life is in the south and I certainly wasn’t prepared for just how much my life would change. When I chose to head south, I was simply obsessed about leaving the horrid winters New Jersey endures and never turning back to the town of Mahwah in which I grew up. Never did I ever think that just a few states down, there was a completely new way of life.
So now in the short five weeks that I have been here, I have truly learned so much. I have learned that life is not as serious as we make it sometimes. When my parents visited for parents weekend, my dad was absolutely enraged by how slow everyone drives. This used to infuriate me too, but I have learned not being in a rush is so not a big deal. I’ll reach my destination eventually, right? Seriously though, there is no need to get worked up over something so minuscule and it would really be useful if South Carolina could teach that to the rest of the world.
South Carolina has taught me that being kind to others is so important and in turn, makes you a happier person. My roommate and I are both from the north and are constantly in shock by how polite our neighbors across the hall are, who are both from South Carolina. When we first met them, they kept excusing themselves for every little thing like walking past us and stepping over our homework. No need to excuse yourself for that, right? But this is something people from here are used to, which definitely confused my roommate and I. When we confronted them about it, they explained to us how normal this was for them and how they thought we were a little too harsh about some things. Say what?!
My roommate is from New York and I am from New Jersey, about thirty minutes from NYC. When walking in the city, if you were to stop someone and ask a simple question, perhaps for directions, nine out of ten times you would get ignored. Everyone is just in a hurry to get to where they’re going and they definitely aren’t too concerned about you. I mean sheesh, it’s even rare to see a smile.
Since moving to South Carolina, I have met some of the most genuine people ever, I now know that gentlemen really do exist—hallelujah, and I’m grateful to surround myself with these people. I love the exchange of smiles and hellos from stranger to stranger and the overall exchange of kindness. I am still in the process of getting used to this culture, but I getting used to the good vibes won’t be so hard. My love for New Jersey will never go away, but South Carolina is taking a huge chunk of my heart too. After all, I did choose the best school in the south, heck, probably even the world!