My entire childhood and most of my adult life was spent in South Georgia. I grew up in what is unlovingly known as the sticks. Phrases such as "I ain't got no" were commonly heard. I managed to excel in grammar, though you wouldn't know to hear me speak. Many years after I graduated, I realized speaking correctly would get me much further and began to clean up my language quite a bit. By the time I left Georgia six years ago, I had deleted y'all from my vocabulary all together. I moved to Northern California, where my southern accent was a bit noticeable...

After a few years, my friends and family back home started to know a difference in my voice. My efforts were paying off, I was losing my accent. People out here, however, still very much noticed it.

Naturally, I'm not the person I was when I left Georgia. I don't think I'm exactly a California girl either. I've taken some of both places. But where do I belong? Am I too Georgia for here? Am I too California for Georgia?