"Where are you from?" It's a question that all of us have heard, especially during our time in college. If you're Greek or went through rush, then it's a question that you have either answered or asked more times than you could possibly recall.
Even if you aren't Greek, it's still something that inevitably comes up when you first meet or are introduced to someone. My first two years of college were filled by answering this simple question more times than imaginable, and most times that I answered it I was presented with a challenge -- hardly anyone knew where it was.
I am from Union County, KY, and I am proud to say that. Hardly anyone knows where that is, but there's a much higher chance of them knowing my county than them being aware of Morganfield, my county seat, or Sturgis, the town of my address. It's nigh impossible that they know about Sullivan, where I actually live.
See, my entire county has around 15,000 residents. For reference, the University of Louisville's enrollment in 2014 was 22,599. Sturgis's population has recently gotten so low that the state removed our only stoplight. Sullivan doesn't even have census data because we lost our zip code before I was born.
Whenever I tell people that I'm from Union County, 90% of them think I'm from Union, KY in the northern part of the state or close to Union College in the Eastern part, when in reality my house is about six hours from those respective locations. I am from Kentucky's home of corn, coal, and wrestling, and I am immensely proud to say that.
My county, like many other rural counties spread across the state, has a celebration that many outside the area would find strange -- Corn Fest. Each September almost the entire county comes out to Morganfield for a joint celebration of the incoming crop and to eat as much fried food and BBQ as possible.
Whenever people outside of the area hear about this, they automatically think it's odd, but for me it's something that I genuinely take pride in. We have grown the most corn in the state for more than thirty years, and we come out to celebrate that. Most of our lives are either directly or indirectly linked to agriculture, and this provides me with an insight into a part of life that many people do not have the fortune of ever seeing.
Like a lot of small towns, we also take immense pride in our high school's athletics. Union County wrestling, in my completely unbiased opinion, is the best program in the state. During the past 10 years, we have won five state championships and have never finished lower than third. Although the tournament is typically three hours away, we always have a massive crowd. We take pride in our student athlete's hard work, and that eventually extends to taking pride in our everyday work.
Growing up in a place that hardly anyone knows about has helped shape me into who I am today. Small town life has taught me the true meaning of love thy neighbor and taking pride in your work. I'm proud to be from a place that you never knew existed.
