Title: Small Town Pride, Big Time Pain

Author: Jamie

Date: August 24, 2006

I grew up in Jasonville, Indiana. Those who live there are fortunate in a way that they never can comprehend until the day comes that they have to leave it all behind. Small towns have a reputation of being among some of the worst places to live, and to some they cannot wait to get out and see what is awaiting them outside the town limits. But I have been fighting for a way to get back in.

My father worked for a company in Sullivan, Indiana that decided it would bemore beneficial to them if they packed up and left it behind. While many of the employees did not agree with this decision, they had no choice but to begin the painful process of looking for another job. For many in the same position as my father had not looked for jobs in more than twenty years. My father came to a decision to move us away from everything we knew to Newburgh, Indiana, leaving behind my everything.

My life in essence began the moment I walked through the thick, blue double doors that led to the junior high hallway. Many familiar faces were waiting to welcome me to our new home for the next six years, or so we thought. I have been friends with the same group of people for practically my entire life. We started kindergarten together, were playground buddies, and went camping as a class in the sixth grade. Yes, my existence was permanently placed with the life I had in Jasonville, but all good things come to an end.

High school started out the same way junior high had. Shakamak was a small school with less than 500 students combined in both the high school and junior high. The building was the same, and most of the teachers had us during our junior high years. Everything was familiar, perfect. My serious relationship started in the fifth grade and continued through out my time at Shakamak until even now. I have been with the same guy since then and have never regretted a single moment. Shakamak was about being happy, comfortable, and safe. Leaving my town, my school, my boyfriend, my friends, everything that matters the most to me in the world, broke my spirit into a million pieces.

I fought the move, but had no luck changing the minds of my parents. The only choice was to leave, knowing full well nothing would ever be the same again. I have had to adjust to this new life that has been given to me, but my soul still aches everyday to walk those old familiar halls and see those same people who taught me how to grow as a person. I do believe that I am a better rounded person because of my hardships. I have had to overcome the difficult transition of moving to a new school and community in the middle of my junior year and trying to regain some sort of normalcy in my life. My heart is cemented in that school and will never leave; it is my high school even if I am forced to graduate elsewhere. My soul will still graduate alongside those who matter most in the hot gym of Shakamak High School.