Living the Vermont Life

Growing up in Vermont has affected my life a lot, and in ten years, I hope I don't still live here. If I didn't live in Vermont, I would most likely live in New Jersey because both my parents were born and raised there. Living in New Jersey would be wonderful because in Vermont you have to live in a specific town to be able to go shopping a lot, and from my house it takes 45 minutes to travel to the nearest clothing store. In New Jersey it would probably be easier to make friends because of the bigger schools and the bigger population. In Vermont schools, there are only so many people, so if you get into a fight, or make enemies, there aren't many other people to fall back on.
In ten years I hope to be graduated from college and be starting my career as a very successful dental hygienist in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. I think it would be very difficult to be successful at certain jobs in Vermont, unless of course you were a carpenter or a plumber or something. My dad's a carpenter; he works almost every day and doesn't get paid that much. Twelve or so years ago my dad was in a band. They would play at weddings and parties, sometimes get paid. I guess you couldn't really do that in other places. They were only in a band for two to three years. After that my dad was in about four other bands until I was about ten; now he just plays to the radio in the garage. It was really cool to have a musician for a dad.
Growing up in Vermont was cool. We had a swing-set and a lot of yard to play in, not like a lot of places. Our neighbors were like a second family. The mother was a foster mom; she had about a dozen foster kids all together, no including three kids of her own and an adoptee. She used to babysit us, and so did her two daughters. Her youngest, the adopted son, who is four years older then I, became like a brother for my sister and me. We still go back every so often to visit. In New Jersey, I think it would've been harder for my parents. They wouldn't know who to trust to babysit us.
Vermont's good in that way. The communities are small, there is not a lot of traffic, and the houses are far apart. I'm glad I got to grow up in a safe environment where a lot of people were friendly. I remember when I was younger, my dad knew everybody who lived in Newbury and Bradford, Vermont. Well, not everybody, but is sure seemed like it.
I think if I grew up anywhere else I would be a totally different person; plus, I can't imagine my life without all of the people I'm friends with now and people I used to be friends with. Okay, so really I'm perfectly happy that I grew up in Vermont, but I think sixteen years is long enough.