10 Relatable Things About Living in the DMV
If you’ve ever lived in the DMV, you’re going to relate to this article.
I moved to Maryland when I was six years old, and then the summer I turned nine – I moved to the Bay Area for five years. I came back my freshman year of high school, and I’ve been here ever since.
Living in the DMV has been a big part of my life, and has without a doubt pushed me in places I didn’t realize needed to be pushed.
However, it doesn’t mean living here in the DMV hasn’t been struggle-free…
… here are a few relatable things about growing up in the DMV area:
1. Temperatures Not Matching Up with the Seasons
Something I’ve enjoyed about living in Maryland is that, unlike California, we have actual seasons.
The thing is, though… we don’t have those actual seasons long enough. Summer (and the disgusting, sauna-like-humidity) is really from May through September, October is nice, and then from November until April: expect to be freezing.
This really says it all.
2. Allergies
I don’t get them in the spring like they’re notorious for, but I do get them when the ragweed comes out every September without fail.
Remember when your whole class was sniffling, not just you?
3. Old Bay is Not a Spice, But a Food Group
When I move to Paris, people are going to have to bring me this stuff.
P.S. – I put it on French fries and Avocado Toast.
P.S.S. – Yes, I am a genius.
4. Academic PTSD from High School
I walked in yesterday to my Tolkein class to see something on the board that looked like this:
I was triggered. I kept saying to my classmates sitting beside me,
“I’ve seen that before. I know I’ve seen that before. Where have I seen that before?!”
Especially if you went to school in Montgomery County… you know what I mean when I say that information was drilled into your skull at the tender age of adolescence… and that you have so much information up there that you don’t even know all of the things you somehow managed to memorize all those years ago.
5. If It Wasn’t STEM – You Weren’t “In”
All throughout high school, I was super anti-going-to-college. Gasp. I know. Unheard of, here in the D.C. area… all I really wanted to do from the age of 16 was a be a flight attendant and start seeing the world like I had always dreamed about.
But alas, two things happened.
1. I read online that many airlines wanted their flight attendants to be at least 5’2
2. College was… compulsory, in the situation I was in.
It took me a year of school to figure out that all I ever really wanted to do was write and travel, and that a degree in English (Digital Media Studies, to be exact!) and a minor in creative writing would be the best I could do for myself.
Still, like, 92.54683227% of the DMV area consists of either doctors, lawyers, or engineers.
And if you aren’t something along the lines of a doctor, lawyer, or engineer in this supercilious STEM breathing land, well…
… you’ll get comments, questions, and concerns about your field of study… a lot.
6. The Beltway
I often relate the beltway to a box of chocolates…
… because you’ll really, never know what you’re going to get.
7. Your Annual Tidal Basin Pictures
Tidal Basin during springtime in Washington D.C.; April 2018
I’ve been to the tidal basin twice in my many years living in Maryland… but you know those people who go every year and pose as if it were for their senior year portraits on Instagram like clockwork.
8. Everyone You Know Went to College Park
Literally. Everyone.
Besides the few who went out-of-state to Perdue, Elon, or Michigan…
… but other than that, everyone.
9. Explaining to People What ‘DMV’ Means
No, I don’t live at the place where I went to get my driver’s license…
When you meet someone who didn’t grow up in the D.C. – Maryland – Virginia area, you often draw them an air triangle in attempts to explain to them the layout of the area…
… and then eventually give up, and just say you’re from D.C.
10. You’ve Learned That Hard Work Really Does Pay Off
Even though I’ve said some things here that make it seem like I hate living in the DMV, I don’t, it’s just that I know it’s almost time for me to move on.
The thing that is remarkable about living here though, is like New York, it teaches you that drive and determination actually can amount to something.
So, while we all like to live in our personally induced stress bubbles: if you always have an end goal of some sort in sight…
…you know that a part of the reason as to why that lightbulb shines so bright is because of where you came from.