Growing up in New England brings a feeling of proudness and a whole level of understandings that most people would not grasp, unless you have lived in this northern region. There are phrases and a whole language of words that are not spoken down south, and in our main vocabulary in the North East. Knowing I have grown up in this amazing area make me happy, because I know Massachusetts and the surrounding New England area have something different from other states, and that feeling makes me proud.

Take the word “wicked”. Us Bostonians use this word freely in our common day array of words. To us, this word is used to emphasize something amazing, or great, as in “wicked good”. To others who don't live in this area, it is seen as something bad or evil, such as a wicked witch. Personally I never thought twice about using this word as something good in a positive way until someone pointed this out to me. Even ordering a coffee from Dunks is different in Massachusetts. First of all, we are the only ones who call Dunkin’ Donuts, “Dunks”, but on top of that, ordering a regular iced coffee is only known in this area. Everyone knows what a regular coffee is, but down south no one refers to it as a regular. Being born and raised in this area and knowing these names gives me and I’m sure others a proud feeling. I did not realize this until a few years ago, but I do feel honored to have been brought up this way.

Another aspect of growing up and living in New England, but more specifically Massachusetts is knowing how to pronounce our town names. Southern towns are nice and easy to say, and rarely cause people to struggle saying them. Massachusetts has some interesting town names that can easily cause out of state friends some trouble trying to pronounce. For example, Gloucester, Worcester, Reading, Scituate, and more are all commonly mispronounced  by out of state people.

One last way Massachusetts and New England in general are different from other states is the concept of driving. We have a huge reputation with how bad drivers are in Massachusetts. Others states don't get this reputation because they either drive a lot slower or more cautiously. They say we are bad drivers, I say we know how to drive. The south doesn't get multiple feet of snow, or half a foot and still have school. We do, and we have learned how to drive in the snow. For us, it is just a small obstacle that you need to overcome, and once you do, you become a great driver. The first year I started driving, it was during a snowstorm, this does not make us bad drivers, nor should it give us a bad reputation. And if we do have this reputations, I can be proud of it, it makes us tougher people.

Being born and raised in New England, or more specifically the Boston area creates a feeling that no one else can experience. It does not compare to any other states and never will. It is something to be proud about, having an accent, living in weird towns, and being known as bad drivers. Being able to tell others you were born and raised in this area is a great feeling and one that should not be hidden. Out of state people view us with a level of toughness, and it can be a good feeling. Some say people in this area are grumpy, but I see that from all the tough driving conditions, or someone cutting them off while driving. I think everyone living in this area should be proud to have the opportunity to share these proud aspects.