Living in suburban Maryland, just 20 minutes (without traffic) from the Washington, D.C. border, I sometimes forget how exciting the capital of our country can be to tourists. While kids from states on the West Coast eagerly plan field trips to D.C. through their schools, I have the option to take the Metro down or even to just hop in my dad’s car and head to the city.

I went to school in D.C. for five years, attending a small private school near Van Ness from fourth to eighth grade. A benefit of going to this school is that I learned the city well at a young age. I’ve been to all the downtown museums what feels like hundreds of times. I don’t remember much from my early years at my elementary and middle school, but I do remember lively debate about which place is better- Maryland or D.C.

I was always a minority at school, being from Maryland and not being a very good Metro traveler. As I grew older, I learned not to deny that being from D.C. was awesome. I actually began to resent being from Maryland, and for a short time in the fifth grade I would say I was from D.C. whenever I was outside of Maryland. This was short-lived because when I went to camp over the summer, I became  paranoid that the four girls in my unit who were actually from D.C. would be able to figure out I was a fraud.

When I left this small private school that I had spent five years at, I assumed that I would no longer be going to D.C every day, and was pretty sad about it. However, luckily for me, my best friend still lives in D.C., which gives me the opportunity to come back to the city nearly every weekend. When I tell people that we don’t live in the same state, they usually are surprised. For example, a couple of weeks ago we babysat a Rosh Hashanah party across the street from my old school. When the mom was giving us a ride back to my friend’s house, she asked me where I lived and if we go to the same school. She was very surprised upon finding out that I don’t live in D.C., and went so far as to ask, “How did you meet then?”

It’s surprising to me that it can be hard to understand how people who don’t live in the same area can meet and become close friends. People often overestimate the distance between D.C. and Maryland. Yes, downtown D.C. is pretty far from Bethesda, but a lot of people only associate D.C. with downtown, with the White House and with the Capitol. Big buildings and important people don’t define the city. When I spend time in my friend’s neighborhood, it’s only 20 minutes away and feels like any other neighborhood. That’s why it is hard for me to understand why people often make a big deal of going into D.C. It’s a really cool city, and I feel lucky to live so close to it. But I feel like all the hype is unnecessary. Sure, the buildings are awesome, and things are a little closer together. However, it’s important to know that hey aren’t too separate worlds, as most people tend to believe. The lines between D.C., Maryland, and Virginia often cross, and it all feels the same.