I have had the privilege of growing up in North Carolina my entire life. As much as I love NC I always hear people saying they cannot wait to move away or constantly complain about it. I may be a bit biased, but I think NC is the best state in the country. Maybe it’a because it’s in The South and I do not think I could survive in any other area of the USA. Maybe it’s because we were First in Flight. (probably not a huge reason why I love it because I am afraid of flying…) The fact that we are known for both our beautiful beaches and gorgeous mountains says a lot. Whether you want to visit the Biltmore Estate or Kitty Hawk, both are within hours of each other. Maybe it’s because I can go out to dinner and order “tea” and the waitress knows without thinking that I want it sweet. Or March Madness meant watching the ACC Tourney during class. How much I love sweet potatoes and Krispy Kreme doughnuts may have to do with NC being the number one producer and founder of both. Maybe it’s because my favorite author, Nicholas Sparks, was born and raised in NC and all of his books and movies take place in areas I have known. It’s because I love the looks people give us like we are crazy because we have a “Tobacco Free Campus” sign up at the entrance to our schools that are either across the street or beside a Tobacco field. We are displayed on the news for “freaking out” when the slightest bit of winter precipitation falls and then complain when that first day of blazing hot, humid, air hits us in June. If you haven’t had that disgusting red mud on your shoes after working out in the yard consider yourself lucky. Maybe NC is the best because of the people that become famous that were born here. People like Billy Graham who is such a role model to the world or Andy Griffith who brought laughter to families lives. The famous sports figures like Michael Jordan and Dale Earnhardt – I still remember watching my mom cry watching that Daytona 500 race in February 2001 – who have so many fans from NC and beyond. Don’t forget the famous country music singers like Eric Church, Jason Michael Carroll and Scotty McCreery that QDR plays on the radio daily. North Carolina is the place where you can be best friends with someone until game day when you talk trash to them for the entire game. Whether you’re a Carolina fan – there’s a reason we are called the Tarheel state 😉 – a State fan or a Duke fan, if you’re from NC you stand by your team like a true fan does (unless you want to join the bandwagon during playoffs when your team “had an off year.”) This is the state where you could be out somewhere not paying attention to anyone until Wagon Wheel comes on and every NC-Native bursts out into song when “If I Die In Raleigh, At Least I Will Die Free” comes up. NC is the place where the tea is sweet and the girls are sweeter. There are lyrics like “She feels like Carolina, looks like California” and “Sweet Carolina Girls” to prove it. There are so many things that I may take for granted living in The South or North Carolina in general. Maybe it’s the little things like seeing a Cardinal (our state bird) on the side of the road and wanting to help it or annoying the drivers in a hurry behind me when I don’t pass a tractor driving down the road. Maybe it’s getting homemade ice cream from Porter Farms and taking the curvy back roads to my grandparents house with the windows down. Maybe it’s actually having a backyard that’s full of green grass instead of steel and seeing where the Tarheel Traveler on WRAL travels this week that makes me so thankful that I have been born and raised as a North Carolinian. I never see myself living in a big city considering that even Raleigh was a bit of a “culture shock” to me after being in JoCo almost my entire life. I am so blessed to attend such an amazing college just 25 minutes, depending on that famous I-40 traffic, from my house. Some people may want to escape the Old North State once they graduate but me, I’ll always agree with Eric Church on this one and say, “Oh, Carolina, You Keep Callin’ Me Home.”