Marianna Shannon (14) - Staying Close to Home

    It seems like everyone around me is desperate to leave. Friends moving across the country for college, my best friend joining the Air Force, people counting down the days until they can get as far from home as possible. I have never felt that way. My university is five minutes from my house and I chose that intentionally. I think there is a certain kind of person who finds their peace close to home, and I am one of them. The journey that everyone else seems to be chasing does not call to me the same way. I know my streets, I know my people, I know where I belong. There is something grounding about that which I do not think gets celebrated enough. I am not running from anything, and I am not actively searching for something out there. Whatever I am meant to find, I believe it will find me here.

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