I was born and raised in Freehold, New Jersey, a town most commonly associated as rock legend Bruce Springsteen’s place of birth. I lived in this town for 17 years, before my family moved to Florida two years ago. Freehold is a quaint little town, not especially exciting but pretty comfortable if I do say so myself. My high school was only five minutes from my house and about ten minutes from the sizeable local mall, an enticing option for class-skipping students. New Jersey is deemed the Garden State, a name coined by towns like mine. Everywhere you go in my county, you will find rolling hills, farms and woods. Most people commute to work in New York City, but our town itself appears to be one centered on agriculture.
What I loved the most about Freehold was that it was a mere 20-minute drive to the shore and an hour and a half from the Big Apple itself, New York City. Next to Freehold is Jackson’s Six Flags Great Adventure, New Jersey’s mecca of roller coasters and thrill rides. My county was also very rich in historical culture. Next to a huge array of orchards is Monmouth Battleview Park, a tribute to the Revolutionary War battle fought on its grounds. There is a museum with actual artifacts found in our town. Sometimes I reminisce on going there when I was little and feel like I took a step back into time. Quite possibly this is what I miss the most about my small town. I miss its sense of history and culture.
My family had always gone to Florida on vacation, making sure we experienced the whole Disney scene. Two years ago, we moved to a town not far from the capital of tourism itself, something I still learn to tolerate everyday. I chose to go to FAU because Boca Raton is a beautiful beach town and I met many people here from northern states, giving me a sense of home.
The funniest thing I notice is the stereotypes sometimes given to northerners in New York and New Jersey. Many people have called us reckless, aggressive drivers. I myself have never been in as many near accidents as I have been in Florida. Possibly this is because the legal driving age is lower than up north or the fact that Florida’s population is predominantly of retiring age. Or, most likely, people just don’t know nor care to know how to drive.
People also ask me if New Jersey is a smelly junkyard of garbage, a very typical stereotype. I answer with the fact that New Jersey is more recycle-friendly than Florida and that we have yearly mandatory car inspections, an unheard-of procedure in the Sunshine State. OK, so our state may be the only one where we don’t have to pump our own gas. But, being a native New Jersey girl, I can testify that I have never met so many intelligent, generous and tenacious people than I have in my home state. I guess New Jersey will always be the place I can call my home sweet home.
