A lot of the brothers and sisters of the Penn State Greek community come from large, urban or suburban areas such as outside Philly, Pittsburgh, Long Island, North Jersey, etc. However, there are a lot of us Greeks who come from small, rural towns. I come from a town of 5,000 people, and it is one of the larger towns in the area. When we rural people try to describe life at home to our friends at school, many of them look at us confused, picturing our lives as a scene from the Dukes of Hazard. While those of us who come from rural areas are not necessarily the backwoods hicks people might think we are, we do have a different way of life from the people from larger city areas.
The first thing that I have found to be a major difference from my life at home vs. the lives of my friends who grew up in large, suburban or urban areas is that my high school was tiny compared to theirs. I graduated with 150 kids, and for my area, that’s considered a larger graduating class. Some of the towns neighboring mine only graduate about 50 students every year. Also, in rural areas, most students go to public school. While a lot of suburbanites also go to public school, it seems that just as many attended a private school. In my area, there is one private, Catholic high school and maybe 60 people, if that, attend it. In rural areas, you literally know everyone and everyone knows you.
Speaking of high schools, another huge difference between rural and suburban areas is prom. In my area, junior and senior prom is always combined and the most fancy place it will be is usually the Hampton Inn’s banquet room. To put this in perspective, my junior prom was in a fire hall and a lot of other high schools hold their proms in the high school gym. Dinner is not served at our proms. You go out to eat at a restaurant beforehand (probably to the super-chic Olive Garden). And, here is the kicker, tickets are only about $10. A $90 prom ticket is not something that exists in the rural lands.
Another difference between where I am from and where many of my friends are from is the fact that there is literally nothing (stores, restaurants, etc.) in the most rural areas. Many of my friends’ local malls are the King of Prussia Mall or something almost as extravagant. My mall is a one-story little building that houses about 25 stores. We don’t have a Forever 21, Nordstrom, Express, or anything that would be considered a decent mall staple. It was a huge deal when we got a Hollister in our mall. Where I come from, people make day trips to State College to shop. The closest Forever 21 is three hours away and many of the people who live in the area have never heard of Banana Republic. It can be depressing at times. What is worse is that the coolest restaurant we have (besides some local favorites) is Olive Garden. Not exactly a hotbed for excellent cuisine.
Finally, a lot of the activities that those in rural areas partake in are vastly different from suburbanites. In my area, we have off school for the first day of deer hunting season because everyone hunts -- and I mean everyone. One year, the first day of hunting season was a make-up day from an earlier snow day and school was open. However, 400 of the 600 students were absent. Hunting is a way of life in rural areas.
Rural areas, especially along the Susquehanna River in Central Pennsylvania are home to what is known as river lots. A river lot is simply a piece of property along the river. Summer time is spent having bonfires and cookouts at the river lot. It might sound boring or primitive, but it is actually one of the most fun places to be during the summer. Also, growing up in a rural area, it is very likely that you may live 20 miles from the closest town. Many of my high school classmates lived in areas that did not receive cell phone service.
For those who grew up with the comforts of the city close by, rural towns may seem backwards and boring. While often rural towns are anything but glamorous, they are home to many of Penn State’s Greeks and we could not imagine growing up anywhere else. For those of us who grew up where everyone hunted and drove a pickup truck, we often get strange looks while describing life at home to our friends here at school. If you are not the rural kid in your organization, one of your friends probably is, and you know it is a totally different and unique way of life.
