Southern Migration

For much of my life, I've had a mediocre to grim outlook on the state of Ohio. As a child, it represented the wedge that separated me from my beloved hometown and friends of Charleston. As an adult, it represents the geographic void between the east coast and the great plains marked by rolling hills, corn, a river that once caught fire, and the one and only gem that is Cedar Point. All said, I know that I am a bit hard on the buckeye state. I have more loyalty to WV and love it dearly but to be fair, Ohio really is a wonderful place to raise a family and go to school. It's not a state in which I will ever reside again for as long as I live, but it has a lot going for it and it is home to a lot of good people.

Mom and Dad sending me off

I am putting Ohio in the spotlight because it is where I spent a large portion of my winter break. After returning on the 23^rd of December (a 4-month absence), I managed to meet up with a good portion of high school and college friends as well as a number of family members from my father's side of the family. I wish that I could have spent more time with all of them but due to an upcoming interview on the 13^th, my departure was moved earlier. An interesting side note is that this break marked the longest amount of consecutive time at home since the summer of 2008.

My southern migration started with lunch in Columbus and dinner in Dayton with high school friends. I made it to Oxford by night, spent the next day there, and left the following morning for Charlotte, via Cincinnati. Due to a serious snow/ice storm in the southern states, I was forced to reluctantly alter my course. Instead of driving through Kentucky for the first time in my life, I re-routed myself through Charleston and onward down I-77. The logic here was that if in fact I became stranded and could go no farther, I could fall back on any of a number of contacts that I have along 77. Due to serious pressure from family members, I decided to change my plans such that I would spend the night in Charleston regardless of the weather conditions. At the moment of writing, I am currently in Charleston, freshly showered, significantly tired, and prepared go to Charlotte by morning.