I am from Washington D.C.- A city, but nonetheless my hometown.
Being from Washington D.C., I never really understood the importance and the amount of history that there is in the city. I never realized how lucky I was to be able to grow up in the capital of the United States. I took it for granted.
Meeting people here I didn’t realize that so many people only go to DC for the 8th grade trip. Hearing that people only think that DC is going downtown is absurd to me. There is so much more to the city than just going downtown, it’s the place where I was raised.
Now when I visit home, I want to do all of the touristy things, I want to experience the city. I want to do the things that I didn’t realize that I was lucky enough to do.
Growing up we went to museums and I did not realize that this was a privilege. I thought that it was normal to go on field trips to places that held so much history. Museums in DC are free and now going around locally I see that I didn’t take advantage of all of the resources that Washington DC has to offer.
Now when I am home I realize the small things that I appreciate, the things that I didn’t notice before.
I am so happy to go home and visit my family. I love going on walks to our local coffee shop and interacting with the baristas that I have seen change throughout the years. I love being able to look around at the community that I have mad within such a large city.