From the West Coast to the Midwest, sophomore Ellie Rydeheard has had the chance to experience both city living at the beach and the sense of community offered in the suburbs. After moving here from Southern California in 2018, she will return to Monterey, California, located towards central California near San Francisco, at the end of this school year.

“We moved to Kansas because we wanted to change scenery and change from a busy city,” Rydeheard said. “Then my parents kind of wanted to go back to a more beachy town so that’s why we’re moving back.”

The familiarity between families, students, and faculty is something that is not very present in California, and something that Rydeheard particularly enjoys about living here.

“In Kansas, I love just how everyone’s a community and I love the team spirit with the Chiefs because it’s not like that in California since there’s four different teams in the state,” she said. “On Chiefs Friday, you walk into a grocery store and it’s just filled with red— it’s not like that in California”

Something she will definitely miss is the opportunity to complete high school with all of her friends in Kansas, who she says she will miss the most after she moves.

“When I realized that I wasn’t going to be able to graduate with all my friends— that was definitely the sad part,” Rydeheard said. “I was really looking forward to that. It’d be so cool to graduate with them.”

Although there are plenty of things in Kansas she will miss, Rydeheard is excited for this new chapter of her life considering how different she is compared to the last time she lived there. 

“I would definitely say California is my top state just because I love the beach so much and it fits my vibe,” Rydeheard said. “I was only in elementary school when I lived in California, so I didn’t really go out on my own with my friends and I’ve completely changed from elementary school based on what I like and my interests.” 

She and her family have already begun to reconnect with old friends back in California and are looking forward to being back at the beach.

“I’m pretty excited because I love the ocean, so it’s pretty cool because we’ll probably go there every day,” she said. “I’m excited to move but I’m so glad I made so many fun memories here in Kansas.”