Hey all! It’s been a while since I’ve written a blog post. Let me catch you up a bit! Like so many of us, 2020 threw all of my plans for a loop. I was working in a hospital diagnostic lab in Maine, I spent hours and hours caring for COVID-19 positive patients. During this time I would spend my days dreaming about traveling again and furthering my education. In January of 2021, I decided to apply to grad schools all over the country and in September of 2021 I moved to Philadelphia to get my Masters of Public Health! 

Moving to the 6th largest city in the United States from a small town of 4,000 people in southern Maine has been a huge life change. I still find myself looking up at the skyscrapers in awe, and being amazed at all of the food and activity options.  I find UberEats to be totally overwhelming because of all the options and amazing because we didn’t have delivery options back in my hometown.  I’ve decided to share 3 things I’ve learned since moving. 

My 3 Lessons

1. Public transportation is a lifesaver but always give yourself extra time – I’ve learned this one the hard way several times. 
2. Making friends as an adult is hard but finding a community will help – moving for school allowed me to start fresh but also gave me a community to support me. 
3. Mainers are unlike anyone else – back home I knew my neighbors, said hello to people at the grocery store and “spoke the language”. Philadelphia is a whole new ballgame. People don’t smile on the subway, I don’t know any of my neighbors names and I’m sure I’ll never be able to use “jawn” in a sentence.  

Comment and let me know some lessons you learned when you moved away from your hometown.