Photo Credit: Den Echoes archive[/caption]The grass is always greener on the other side, whether one is a lamb or a college applicant. Until recently, Hillsborough, a unique little town filled with interesting people and places, seemed like the dullest place to live in the world. I yearned to leave and go to a big city, where there would always be something going on, and I’d meet new people every day. However, the last few months have taught me the error of my ways. While cities definitely have their perks, towns like Hillsborough are just as important. True, they may not offer the constant excitement of the city lifestyle, but they provide quiet moments, like a casual stroll down the paths of Ayr Mount or free ice cream at Last Friday.
I’ve always viewed Hillsborough as a brief stop on the road to my future. I’d pass through it then go on to better things and bigger places. However, as I’ve begun counting down the months until I leave, my view of the town has changed drastically. Suddenly, certain things have become last moments. These have included ridiculous things like my last last Last Friday (they end in September, and I leave in August), as well as more sentimental moments like my last Halloween and my last first day of school. While I know when the big ones occur, what about the small ones? I rarely get chocolate at Matthew’s Chocolates, so might the next time I go be my last? The same applies to some other restaurants and businesses--Cup-A-Joe, Saratoga Grill, the Maple View store. Since each visit might be my last, I cherish it and make sure to experience it fully.
This has given me a new perspective, as I don’t just glide through life anymore. Little moments have become big moments. I imagine that all seniors go through this, although the colleges I’m planning on attending will make this transition more drastic for me than it will be for other students. I’m applying to 14 schools--three are in North Carolina, six are other states, and five are in the United Kingdom. So far, I have been accepted to the University of Manchester, a college in Great Britain. Finances are certainly an issue with regards to going overseas, but I’m at least hoping to go out of state. My newfound appreciation for my town has not changed this fact--I want to live in a big city, and few places in North Carolina are big.
Assuming that I get accepted into and choose to attend an out-of-state school, I’ll have to leave North Carolina in about nine months. This is the state that I have spent my entire life in. While it isn’t perfect by any means, it is still my home, and leaving it will be difficult. I moved to Hillsborough when I was five and have lived there ever since, so Hillsborough is basically synonymous with North Carolina to me. Both the town and state are charming and unique, and both will be sorely missed.
What makes Hillsborough different? For people like me who grew up in the town, it may not seem like that special a place. It has some cool shops and a nice atmosphere, yes, but why is it so dearly loved? It takes an outsider’s perspective to answer this question. When I was being interviewed for a job at The Chapel Hill News a few months ago, the editor of the paper said that he wished he had more coverage of Hillsborough because it’s such an interesting place. I didn’t respond negatively, as I wanted the job, but in my head I scoffed at this remark.
A few days later, when I was walking through town running an errand, I looked around and actually saw the town I had lived in for 12 years. A toddler spun around happily in a circle and fell on the grass. An elderly couple walked their dog down the street. A band played guitar and the spoons in an alleyway. Behind the courthouse, there’s a beautiful glass wall, but a few hundred feet away there are historical buildings and signs explaining Hillsborough’s past. This mixture of young and old, historic and new, is what makes the town so intriguing.
Hillsborough isn’t a bad town. It certainly isn’t perfect, but it contains many memories for me, and I’ll miss it and its inhabitants dearly.
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