I can hear it if I’m silent.

The foamy, blue waves crashing on the hot sand under my feet. There are not many better places to grow up, if you ask me; with the beach a five minute walk away, the arcade just down the road, ATV paths nearby, Six Flags an hour away, and a beautiful grove of oak trees for a backyard.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to brag but I do consider myself lucky to have lived most of my life within 10 minutes driving distance of Seaside Park. I’m lucky because I’ve lived in five different towns in multiple states, not including Grand Forks, and I could have grown up in any of those five.

Gainesville and New Brunswick are nice, from what I’ve heard, but I’m not sure spending my childhood in a college town would have been preferable.

Edison, NJ is where my mom grew up, and she said she loved it. Then. Today, it’s not much to look at.

And New Providence? Well it’s tiny and there is absolutely nothing to do other than wish you were somewhere else. Ask just about anyone who lives or has lived there.

The number one complaint I hear from people about where they lived before coming to UND is that there was nothing to do. It’s almost as if people are fated to make bad decisions with drugs and alcohol because they have no other options left to use their free time for.

I’m not saying those things didn’t happen in my hometown, but there were always other options. Only on occasion did I have to answer, “what else is there to do in this town?” I rarely, if ever, asked myself or my friends that question. And for that, I’m grateful.