I can honestly say that my hometown helped make me the person I am today. It has given me some of the best (and worst) memories of my life. I have made life-long, irreplaceable friends and met amazing, caring people all within the town limits. It is where my family raised me, and it is where I go when I need to be reminded of my roots. With that being said, there are some things I would’ve changed before I stepped out in to the rest of the world.
I have some bones to pick with you, my hometown. There are a few things that we did differently back in Small Town, USA. Growing up, I knew everyone’s backstory because it matched my own. As nice as it was to be surrounded by familiarity, it was misleading. In that neck of the woods, you are a Caucasian Christian with fairly conservative beliefs that you stand by at all times. This is in no way a negative description, but simply a common one. The world has so much diversity, and it was restricting to only be subjected to one form of it for so much of my life.
Despite popular belief, there are other religions outside of the three different Christian churches that we had in town. I had learned about Buddhism, Hinduism, and other religions in history classes, but I always learned the most about Christianity. As the primary religion in town, it was also the one that dominated the school curriculum. Even though personal religion is supposed to be separate from our public schools, it was still highly present in those hallways. Religion is a personal belief that I encourage everyone to pursue, no matter which one you choose to practice. There are lessons to learn from everyone’s perspective on life, and it is an important skill to be able to understand where others are coming from without feeling like your own beliefs are being challenged. I knew that I was in for a bit of a culture shock when I left, and I was right. It just would’ve been nice to better understand the diversity of beliefs that existed outside of my hometown.
People can come from all sorts of different backgrounds. Let’s be real, there were maybe a handful of students out of our entire high school that did not identify as Caucasian. There was definitely a lack of diversity in the social aspect of our town. Now, I was raised by a very smart woman who taught me to accept every person as they are. Frankly, we all know that there are some who do not choose to practice this same ideal. In a town that is mostly conservative, you can imagine some of the views people had towards those who didn’t share the same background. I was raised in a town where identifying someone by their heritage or practiced culture was acceptable. Rather than focusing on their individualism, anyone who was different was subconsciously stereotyped and disregarded. It shouldn’t matter. It would’ve been nice to have been taught universal acceptance from not just my mother, but by my community as well.
As close knit of a community as it was, they did not hesitate to turn on you when a piece of juicy gossip came around. If your car broke down in the middle of town on the way to school, everyone knew by the end of first period. If your boyfriend dumped you, just wait. Everyone would be staring at you all day, just waiting for your composure to crack. Your best friends could also be your worst enemies depending on who you pissed off that week. I saw girls be rejected by their closest friends simply because they were bored. You became paranoid that everyone was always watching you, and they usually were. That is not exactly how it is out here in the real world. There, I was hesitant about getting to know new people and careful not to talk to the “wrong” crowd. Being there could make you judgmental and mean. Now, 200 miles away, I am free to express myself. I can make a mistake and it’ll be okay because I won’t be the morning gossip at the local coffee shop. You shouldn’t spend life worrying about what everyone thinks and what they are going to say about you. You should simply be living your life.
Growing up in my small, sometimes close-minded home, I wish I had known that there was more to the world than just the two main roads that meet in the middle of town. It would have been nice to have had my individuality encouraged and to have felt accepted in spite of any differences. The opportunity to choose and practice one’s own culture was not given and it is a shame. Now I know that there is so much more to life than what is contained within the cornfields that border the place I call home. Don’t you know? The prettiest flowers bloom in the face of adversity. Imagine how beautiful the world could be if people had the chance to explore their curiosities, embrace their individuality, and live in peaceful diversity.
