July is moving month for this young reporter

It is crazy to me that we are already halfway through the year and that it is now July. This will personally be a big month for me as I move across the country to Knoxville Tenn., at the end of the month.

As I realized that I will be moving from my home of just over 10 years in just a matter of weeks, I thought of all the good times that Cheney and the West Plains have brought me.

I am a proud alum of Cheney High School and Eastern Washington University. I will forever be a Blackhawk and I am officially an Eagle for life.

If it wasn’t for moving to Cheney, I would have never had the opportunities or met the people that I now have in my life. And because of that, it will make that part of my move very difficult since it will be very difficult to say goodbye to the town.

Some of my favorite parts of living in Cheney is the small town feel, but not feeling like I am in the middle of nowhere at the same time. I have always loved walking around downtown Cheney and seeing the different stores that sprout up throughout time.

I have never felt like I was trapped in a small town either because it is such a short trip to the big city of Spokane. Whenever I need a Target fix or to go shopping at a mall, it is a quick drive away and the best part is that there is barely any traffic. I love not having to worry about what time of the day I am driving due to how many cars could be on the freeway.

Unlike a lot of people, the transition from high school to college was not very difficult to me. I had already attended some classes at Eastern and I was lucky to not have to pay rent by living at home a couple blocks away from campus.

But I guess I made up for that by choosing to attend graduate school about 1,800 miles away from here. Now that I have an apartment in Knoxville and have all my classes set up, reality is kicking in and I am still very excited about the decision.

People may think I am a little crazy for moving so far away at a young age, but attending the University of Tennessee has always been a dream of mine and I don’t see what is crazy about chasing your dreams.

I highly encourage anybody that is on the fence of officially reaching for that goal, to just go do it. You only have one life to live and you have to make the most of it. I just am making the most of it by leaving to go cheer on my Volunteers year round.

No matter where the next step takes me, Cheney will always have a special place in my heart as it has helped define who I am as a person today. And it is not really a goodbye — it is a see you later.

Grace Pohl can be reached at [email protected].