Moving Away

On Mondays, I like to post something a little more person and about me. Today, the topic is about moving away. When I  was eleven years old my family moved away from the house I had grown up in. We had spent, what seemed like an eternity to me a as a child, about 5 years in this house in Kenova, WV. We moved to a larger city in Athens, Ohio which was about 2 hours away. While my step-father was moving up in his career and earning enough to raise the family in a more fortunate way, it was still tough for me. At that time my best friends lived in Kenova and it was a tough transition for me initially. I did not make friends quickly and the ones that did socialize with me were not the best influence on me.  It took some time for me to really develop healthy friends and begin to get settled into Athens. So when I see clients who are struggling in a new social situation or who are having a tough time with moving,, I realize that moving away can be really tough on a child.
As for me, I lived out the rest of my adolescent, teenage-age years and part of college life in Athens. I fell in love with the place. It is a beautiful city (mostly just the campus of Ohio University). It was at this institution that I learned a lot about my faith and myself. I was really involved with Campus Crusade for Christ in college and I really grew a lot socially during this time frame.
I have moved from Athens, Oh. And I have found that moving as an adult is not the same as moving as a child. I find the transition a little bit easier each time, but I am a a season of life where I only need to take care of myself, so it is pretty easy to pack a bag and go wherever life takes me.

Ohio University

I made a recent visit to Ohio University and I fell in love with Athens all over again.

Why I fell in love…
The buildings, the brick, the beauty.
Atmosphere of learning, of loving, of having fun!
Campus Crusade for Christ.
The nature, the trees, the park areas.

Why I am biased…
I spent my 4 years of ungrad there.
And I lived in Athens for 6 years before my ungrad as well. It is a nice little town.
And I moved to a larger, noisier, busier, more real life town and it is the opposite of Athens.

It is whole another world compared to the rest of Ohio.
Just a small little college town in the middle of no where but yet 20,000 college aged students come together. It is awesome. The weather there too is unlike any of other place in the world too.