Moving to a different house can be a huge event for a lot of people in their lives, but moving to a different state, now thats kind of epic. Especially when you’ve lived in the same state for the entire sixteen years of your life. I moved to Fort Dodge, Iowa at the end of the summer before my junior year of high school. July 28th I believe is the day we arrived in the small town, well small to me. Coming from a town of 70,931, the tiny amount of almost 25,000 was a little bit of a shock. I spent my whole life living near mountains, which helped me decide which way was west, and a huge city, bright lights and party places, never running out of things to do or places to see and meeting new people everyday. I was about to have a whole new life style.

I had met a ton of people fairly fast, being that my moms best friend from high school, now lived across the street, and her daughter was only a year older then me. I hung out with them for most of the summer. As I started volleyball and school, I was introduced to more people, more then I was expecting at the public school. I guess when I was use to there being six high schools in a ten mile radius, and now there only being one in a twenty mile radius, it made sense. Most people were really nice to me, but there are always the mean drama starters where ever you go. I learned to choose my friends wisely, and also to not trust just anyone. I tried focus on school and sports, while keeping to the better groups of friends I had met.

Eventually enough was enough and I transferred to a local high school, my fourth high school in three years Going to school here has been great because we are all so close. It’s like one big family and I enjoy hanging with my class because we are all such great friends. They are all good people who want to succeed and focus on school and sports as much as I do, which makes going to school much easier and a better environment. The teachers are all very nice and were extremely helpful when I first transferred. I learned that when I surround myself with good people and a great environment, I can achieve great things. The only reason I didn’t come here in the first place was because of the uniforms and mass. Now I’ve realized its just a plus, and that I shouldn't judge anything without trying it out first, because my clothes are always clean for the weekends and going to church makes you feel better about yourself.

Through out this whole experience I have learned many lessons about life which will probably help me get threw life much easier. Even though this move was a huge change in my life and I had to leave my friends and some family, it was all for the good; I’ve realized that just because some places or people have flaws it’s not all bad, and you shouldn’t judge it, you should try to experience the best of a place whether its moving to a small town or a big city. Thanks to my friends and family this has been a very successful change in my life and I’m enjoying every part of it so far and I cannot wait for what my future holds.