When I was a teenager, my father accepted a new job position that prompted our family to relocate to Arkansas. I’d be lying if I didn’t say I was underwhelmed to the mere thought of it. “Arkansas? Why?! It’s plain, it’s flat, it’s just farm ground, there’s nothing there”. Admittedly, I had known very little about the state, but had already formed an opinion of it based on (what I didn’t know at the time) false pretenses.
In normal teenager fashion, I dug my heels in deep and couldn’t let go of the notion that I would just “hate it here”. I didn’t give it an open mind or a proper chance to introduce itself free of prejudice. I held onto my misconception as long as I could stand it. Then slowly, but surely, I made friends who challenged the narrative for me and exposed me to new places, new things, and some of the unique oddities of Arkansas. We set out on adventures, road trips, and always took the long way home.
They opened my eyes to a new point of view. And quite honestly, it didn’t even take much of fight for Arkansas to woe me and win me over. I’ve met some of the hardest workers I’ve ever known in our farmers, I’ve seen waterfalls and hidden pools that make you think of magic, and I’ve locked eyes with animals as small as a frog, as big as an elk. There’s so much I know of Arkansas now that I never once dreamed of romanticizing.
I’m forever awe struck by life’s game of chance, and in my experience, it’s the occasional curveball that gets knocked out of the park. Moving here changed my outlook and ultimately, changed my life. Needless to say, teenagers really don’t know it all…
