Listening to: Michael Hurley - "When I Get Back Home"

Top left to bottom right: Olivia Rivera in her room on move-out day. Michael Mayberry after swimming in the Hocking River. Kara Guyton in her room on move-out day. Raina Vi on the Jackie O's patio. Kara Guyton on the Jackie O's patio. Tommy Marrett with his dog at Nelsonville Music Festival a day after he ended his Appalachian trail hike. May 2016.

Today I got two rolls of film scanned from the past few months as I moved away from Athens, visited my hometown of Monongahela for a week, and began living in Louisville. Thanks to my friend Eli who gave me his old film camera and Olivia who let me use two of her rolls of film, I took a break from my usual DSLR and tried my hand at shooting film for the first time (I know, I'm young. Get your Millennial generational jokes ready). 

Taking pictures of old friends and my three "homes" was a really soothing exercise. Getting this film back just reminds me so much of the places I've lived over my lifetime and why I loved them. 

 View of the Monongahela River wrapping around California, Pa. from Highpoint Drive in Coal Center, Pa. May 2016.

Moving away from home is hard. It completely flips your world upside down, even if you're not going that far geographically. 

I remember being a teenager and dreaming to move far, far away to the other side of the United States. I dreamt of traveling to India (which I did last summer). I wanted nothing to do with my Appalachian/Rust Belt hometown of Monongahela, Pennsylvania. My peers and my schooling taught me that staying in the community you grew up in was a sign of failure. I wasn't taught to take pride in my community and strive to make it better by staying there after graduation. I was taught to leave.

A home's swimming pool sits in front of the Mitchell Power Station near Courtney, Pa. May 2016.

Steve Weinstein walks through a stairwell that used to lead to Waco Way that is now overgrown in foilage on the North Side of Pittsburgh, Pa. May 2016.

A natural gas drilling site cuts into the rolling hillside of Eighty-Four, Pa near Mingo Creek County Park. May 2016. 

Four years later after going to college in Athens,Ohio, that mentality took a turn.  I gained a newfound respect for the small town culture I had always been surrounded by. I fell in love with walking down the street and waving hello at friends and strangers; with not being able to see a few 100 yards in front of me because the landscape rose and fell in rolling hills and thick green woods filled the cracks of Athens' eclectic suburbs; with small businesses working their asses off to make it in an area of the country that so often was overwhelmed by big industries. Despite being in what most people describe as the college bubble, my education as a photojournalist pushed me to get involved in the community at large.

I realize now that I take pride in being from communities where things aren't handed to them. I take pride in not being a city gal. I take pride in living in Appalachia — so much that I hope to take my skills as a photojournalist to work with non-profits in Appalachian development over the course of my career. 16-year-old me would have never expected I'd want to stay in this part of the country and I'm still working on those subconscious thoughts telling staying means failure. I'm grateful to have had amazing friends, family, and coworkers along the way.

Nelsonville Music Festival patrons take a break from the music to swim in the Hocking River. Nelsonville, Ohio. June 2016.

Jackie O's Tap Room. Athens, Ohio. May 2016.

Olivia Rivera in her room in Athens, Ohio. May 2016.

Eli Hiller, Raina Vi, Kara Guyton, and Michael Mayberry at Jackie O's Taproom in Athens, Ohio. May 2016.

Michael Mayberry in his bedroom in Athens, Ohio. June 2016.

Maddy Ciampa, Natalie Mahomar, and Michael Mayberry outside of my car before heading to Union Street Diner in Athens, Ohio. June 2016.

Kara Guyton says goodbye before I drive to Louisville, Ky. Athens, Ohio. June 2016. 

But for now, I've moved away and live in Louisville, Kentucky. Funny, huh? The thought of living in a midwest city kind of makes me cringe, but I've unexpectedly loved it here so far. It's a bittersweet feeling, though. I'm being pulled in two different directions. I'm split down the middle between where I've been and where I'm going. Something tells me I'm going to move back to somewhere in Appalachia in the near future, but for now I'm taking each day as it comes and giving every place I'm dropped into a chance to feel like home. 

My Louisville roommate Casey Toth and her dog Bre in Cherokee Park. May 2016.

Harlan County resident Adam Wilder poses for a portrait at Big Rock in Cherokee Park in Louisville, Ky. May 2016.