Marissa Strong
Greeley, Colorado
I need to stop taking New Hampshire for “granite.”
I love traveling. It’s been in my blood since I was very young, when my family would take vacations almost every year.
I’ve been here, there and everywhere it seems, but there are still a million places that I would like to see before I die.
There is one place that I know very well and it will forever be a place that I can never spend enough time exploring.
Contributed Photo Senior Marissa Strong: is studying in Greeley, Colorado for the semester. Above: Strong is with the Outdoor Pursuits, an outing club on campus, before they go kayaking.
Colorado is a hot travel spot for many people I know. I can totally understand why; the Rocky Mountains have some of the best hiking and skiing, there are many tourist destinations, it is home to the very popular cities of Denver and Boulder and for the “outdoorsy” type of person, it’s a limitless playground.
But for me, Co. is something more than just a place of beauty.
I was born in Boulder, Co. and I grew up here. As much as I do love New Hampshire and everything about it, I know that Colorado will always have a special place in my heart.
Ever since I moved to New Hampshire, I’ve been missing Co.
I’m studying in Greeley, Co. I’m not very close to the Rocky Mountains (I wish I was closer), and the campus always smells like cow poop (thanks to the surrounding farms) but I have never been happier.
Being able to spend a semester back out here before I have to graduate, get a job, and “settle down” is helping me to realize how lucky I am to have lived here and grown up in Co.
Sure, it definitely stinks that I’m not in Keene during this semester of my senior year.
I’m missing out on a lot of things; my friends, the beautiful fall weather, Pumpkin Fest, and when I get back, I’m only going to have a semester left at Keene, which is sure to fly by quicker than I want it to.
But even though I’m going to miss out on a lot of things, being out here has also really opened my eyes to all of the things that I have back in N.H.
Sometimes I feel a little claustrophobic in New Hampshire because everything seems to stay the same and it’s so small that everyone knows everyone. The fact that I’ve been traveling all my life and always seeing new things and meeting new people makes living in N.H. kind of a challenge for me. After spending a lot of the last year traveling, though, I think I’m ready to go back to N.H. and enjoy the small state and everything it has to offer.
Contributed Photo: Marissa Strong jumps into the water during her study away experience in Colorado.
It’s taken me a while to realize how lucky I am to live in N. H. Through all of this traveling and being far from home, I finally see all of the many things that I take for granted. In the past year of me being out of the state, I’ve never been more homesick for New Hampshire and all of the friends and family I have there.
It’s small and sometimes boring, but there are so many things that I miss about it. I cannot wait to get back to Keene and the rest of N.H. to enjoy the little things that I once thought were boring or uninteresting.
Spending the semester in Co. has been one of the best experiences of my life and I know that this beautiful state will always have a place in my heart, but I have a newfound love for my small state of N.H. and I cannot wait to return.