Growing up in Dickinson, Texas

When I tell people at UT that I’m from Dickinson, they always stare at me with this awkward look on their face like they want to “act” like they know where it is but in reality they’ve never heard of it. It’s okay, Dickinson’s not the biggest city in the world or anything, but it is pretty amazing. I’m sure wherever you’re from can’t compete (totally not kidding).

You would think writing a piece about where you grew up and met all of your lifelong friends would be super easy but surprisingly it’s the exact opposite. I feel like I’m forced to think about the greatest and worst moments of my life and believe me thats not something I want to relive. But just for you guys, I don’t mind spilling the inside scoop of my hometown.

If you weren’t here on Friday nights, you were obviously not from Dickinson

Football is literally life

Growing up in Dickinson is definitely the reason I have such a huge love for football today. Every Friday night, well when it was home game, the stadium would be filled with the entire community waiting to watch the Gators destroy the opposing team. I have so many memories from screaming my lungs out in the stands cheering on my star running back boyfriend. Yes, I was the girl that dated the super popular football player, but were actually still together today (I know, I’m shocked too).

In Dickinson, I truly believe the football players could get away with murder because they’re basically celebrities. I will never forget when my boyfriend and I left school to get lunch, which we weren’t suppose to do but I was completely against cafeteria food at that point. Long story short, I got to spend a day in ISS while my boyfriend got a slap on the wrist and went to football practice. Great times.

Donuts, donuts and more donuts

I’m surprised that I’m not about 400 pounds because of the amount of donut holes and kolaches I ate for breakfast in the morning. In fact I’m surprised Dickinson doesn’t have a high obesity rate because all of the donut shops are packed in the morning before everyone goes to school and trust me, we have about 15 donut shops. I know my hometown isn’t small, but 15 is a lot of donut shops to be in one city.

I mean it when I say everyone loves donuts here. I guess thats why people think it’s a great location to start a donut business and they are all doing fairly well. Not only does the owner of Donald’s Donuts still remember me, but he remembers my order from high school every time I go home. I don’t know if thats a good thing or a bad thing. I honestly don’t know his name but I think I will learn it next time I go home.

I truly miss getting donuts every morning before school. I feel like Austin doesn’t have any and someone like me is used to seeing one on every corner. If you love delicious glaze covered in chocolate or sprinkles or just the regular donuts, you need to travel to dickinson and try out the donut shops. Now that I think about it, Dickinson could become a tourist site for donut shots.

I’ll bring it up in the next town meeting.

I hope you weren’t thinking of some glamorous donut shops because they all kind of look like this or worse but trust me, they are delicious. Donald’s Donuts is the best in my opinion

They don’t call us the swamp for nothing

Dickinson is the home of the fighting gators, literally. I mean our mascot is a gator, but we have alligators all over town. We have so many little swamps and lakes everywhere, that the alligators have made dickinson their home too. Not to mention when it rains it pours here, which allows for a lot of cancelled school days.

It was the some student’s idea to start referring to Dickinson as the swamp and before you knew it everyone was saying it and it sort of just.. stuck. We like it though because it sounds a lot cooler than Dickinson when speaking in athletic terms.

This is the Dickinson Bayou that no one ever goes swimming in here, at least not me anyway

Growing up in such an amazing town made me the person I am today. I met the love of my life here, my best friends, and gained the best support system from the Dickinson community. I wouldn’t trade growing up here for anything, well maybe a donut.