Growing up, I always listened to country music and wore camo everywhere I went. All throughout grade school it was the same-- most of us listened to country music and went hunting on the weekends. But, the minute I got to college, I realized how weird that was.
Where I go to college, most people are from New York City or Long Island. The Upstate people are at a minority, and that’s okay. Most of the people here listen to rap music or pop music, and I feel like the only one who enjoys country music. I haven't seen one person wear camouflage or talk about hunting. Back home, I grew up in a hunting and fishing family. We all enjoy hunting and most of us even belong to a Gun Club where we shoot trap.
When I came to SUNY Potsdam, I didn't think about all the people coming from other places. Some people are from across the country and some live right down the street. Nothing’s wrong with either, it's just that now we're all together and there are so many different cultures and different languages. Sometimes its hard to keep up with all the new fashion statements and all the different types of people.
Where I grew up, we always hunted on the weekends and rode four-wheelers all the time. Most of us live on farms or in my case next to farms and we all have some type of pet. When I moved into my dorm, it's like everything I knew changed.
I’m not “country” at all. I grew up in Upstate New York, not Alabama. We might wear camo and go hunting, but we don’t need that to live. We do it for the thrill or because we like the hunt. Riding four-wheelers and shooting trap are hobbies; not something that defines you as “country.”
And that’s okay! It's okay to think that you fit into this mold and then realize that you don’t even look similar. I grew up one way, but that doesn’t mean I have to stay that way. There are so many cultures to explore and places and people I’ve never met. I have my entire life to explore and find myself, and I don’t have to fit this mold that I grew up in. We can all find ourselves-- we don’t have to be like our parents or like the people we grew up around.
That’s the thing about college-- it's about finding yourself. It may take a year or it could take 10 years, but either way we all get to explore and find the things we love in life. Almost all college students don’t really know who they are, and that’s okay. My parents taught me one thing my whole life that I think about almost everyday, and that’s they want me to be myself and to be more educated and open about life than the people before me. Learn new cultures and make crazy friends because they’ll help you grow and learn. We’re all different in good ways and bad. I don’t have to be “country”-- I can be whatever I want to be.
