Cow pastures, dusty gravel roads, and lots of hicks running around are probably what most imagine when discussing small towns. A lot of stereotypes about small towns are extremely accurate. For example, in a town of merely a thousand people, it’s safe to say that asking your neighbor for some sugar will not be unordinary or any trouble at all. As more and more people begin to populate towards cities and suburbs across the country, there seems to be a bad stigma placed upon small towns in America. I’m here to tell you that although small towns have their typical downsides, small towns are extremely underrated, and they deserve some praise.
From the day I stepped foot on this planet to this very moment, I have lived in the same house. A three story midwestern home, sitting on six acres, in a quaint neighborhood in rural Illinois. When I tell people “The House That Built Me” by Miranda Lambert really touches home with me, I mean it literally. As my family sat down for their first meal in their brand new home, I decided it was time to come out of my mother’s belly and greet this new and exciting world. Fast forward 18 years to where I am now. Fresh out of high school and ready to start my next adventure.
For those of you who don’t know where I have had the pleasure of growing up, it is the wonderful town of Geneseo, Illinois. And no, it isn’t by Chicago, but thank you for asking. A town of 6,500 people nestled in the northwestern part of the land of Lincoln is where I call home. We pride ourselves in our tremendous academic excellence (considering 44% of our student body participates in AP courses), our extremely competitive athletics (53 consecutive winning football seasons), and our incredible arts programs that secures many scholarships every single year. Oh, let’s not forget that Geneseo was rated one of the top 25 small towns to retire to in Illinois. I’m not trying to convince you all to move here by any means, because if all of you instantly agreed with me, it wouldn’t be a cute small town anymore.
Alright back to my life story. Once it was time for me to start school, I enrolled in one of my town’s three public elementary schools. My class had a whopping 80 students. Some of you may be shocked and say that going to a school that small is completely pointless. However, before you’re quick to judge, I’m here to tell you that once we reached the middle school and combined with the other elementary schools, our class grew to a grand total of 208 students. That’s right, 208. Sure, it’s not the smallest school you’ll ever read about, but compared to a lot of other schools and cities around the country, that’s not the biggest of the bunch.
Fast forward to senior year. 208 kids who have spent virtually every single day together for the past 13 years are about to part ways. A very popular thing I heard people angrily say was how excited they were to leave this “ghost town”. I will be the first to admit that at times, I found myself feeling the same way. However, when I had time to reflect on my childhood, my education, and my overall hometown experience, I realized we had it pretty good.
All four years of high school I played on the varsity golf team. Now let me tell you, there is no better support than the support of a small town community. If you’re featured in the town newspaper at least once, you’ll have people you don’t even know telling you how excited they are to watch your success play out. Although you can get that kind of support if you’re a famous athlete no matter where you are, if you’re even an average athlete trying your best, a small town is where you’ll feel the most appreciated. The amount of people I had laminate my articles, send me notes in the mail, and message me to tell me congrats, was extremely flattering and constantly made me feel proud to be from this little small town most people outside of northern Illinois haven’t even heard of.
Alright, I’m sure most of this article seems to be related to our school system, but I think that just might be the point. If you attend school in a large city such as Chicago, there are dozens of other schools within miles of you. Although many people still support and love your school, nothing brings the town together as a whole like a small town high school does. Living in a town where there is only one high school, makes it so much easier for everyone to agree on something. And in my town of 6,000 we all agreed on one thing: football. I completely understand that football is a big deal no matter where you go in America, and I may be biased, but if everyone reading this had the opportunity to attend a Geneseo football game, you might understand what I mean. Imagine this: you’re sitting in the bleachers on a crisp autumn evening, and classic rock hits from the 80’s are on repeat. There’s a light breeze, the sun is setting, an american flag is being propelled from a local fire truck, and the smell of pork chops spreads around the entire field. I don’t know about you, but that sounds pretty American to me. Sure, most of the boys on the field are commonly called “farm boys” but hey, 53 consecutive winning seasons shows how mighty us country folk can be. It must be the corn.
After going on and on about how much I love my hometown, the moral of the story is that small towns like mine across the country deserve some recognition. Cities are such a beautiful thing that provide people with endless opportunities, but small towns are a place you can always call home. Sure maybe we’re “boring” for eating at the same three restaurants on the weekend, growing up with the same group of friends, and bragging about our football program. But like farmersonly.com likes to say, city folk just don’t get it.
