Small Town School Life

When you go to a big city, typically there are multiple elementary, middle, and high schools throughout the area. Graduating classes are ridiculously big and you typically don't even know half the people you graduate with. That is definitely not the case in a small town. My elementary-high school was all in ONE building. As I said before, I graduated with 48 people, so my average high school size was a little over 200 students total. Though there are always pros and cons to everything in life, I can honestly say the good out-weighs the bad when it comes to small schools. 

One of the most annoying things about being from a small high school was gossip spread like wild fire and it sticks around for so long. Even the teachers would know what was up and call us out on it individually. Everyone you know then knows what you did or what you said, and it's just super irritating honestly. You see the same faces every single day in the hallways and we all each lunch at the same time. Athletically speaking, it was a disadvantage to be from a small school because your talent options are limited, compared to a big school where you may have to try out and really want to be apart of the team.

My favorite part about being from a small town was the ability to be involved in everything and anything. I was apart of almost every club offered, and even president of some. Teachers feel more like family than just teachers, honestly. They genuinely care about your well-being inside and outside of the classroom. They do their best to provide knowledge and opportunity that will benefit you later in life, instead of just on a test. I had numerous heart-to-heart conversations with my teachers, and they still check up with me through social media to this day. Another really cool opportunity provided by a one-building school district is the opportunity to mentor the youth in the community. My senior year I spent more time in the elementary volunteering in classes, then in actual classrooms learning through a textbook. So many big opportunities were provided to me through my small school that I probably never would've got elsewhere. For example, because my class was so small, our senior trip was to Disney World for 4 days. I also was selected to go on a 10-day trip to see  historical sights on the east coast, including Colonial Williamsburg, all of  Washington D.C., and some spots in Maine. Those kinds of trips are a lot harder to arrange when you have 200+ people per class.

Even though I never knew what it was like to go to a big school, from what I've been told, it's so different. All I know is I loved high school and the meaningful relationships and memories I was able to make during that time in my life. 

Small Town People

It's hard for me to understand what outsiders think of country folk, but from what I've learned it is pretty stereotypical. If you are moving to a small town, you will quickly learn, and may even be a little overwhelmed, by the amount of attention and support you are given to make you feel welcomed.  When I think of my community, I think of family. Living in an "everyone-knows-everyone" town does have some advantages to it. When disaster strikes or a family is in need, everyone in the community helps in whatever way they can. Everyone is just trying to help their neighbors, and being a stranger is just a foreign concept. You wave or say hello to everyone you see at the grocery store, whether you know them or not. Locked cars and house doors isn't a main priority because you can usually trust the people around you. Some may call it "southern hospitality" but I believe that it is just a genuine respect for other people that should be found everywhere.

Being involved in every club, leadership role, and sports team available, I was blessed with an unbelievable amount of support throughout my time in Riverton, and still to this day. I represented my community at many highly competitive track meets my senior year. I began breaking javelin records everywhere I went, and I promise you I couldn't have done it without the big hearted people I had supporting me. Teachers and random community members would send me messages of encouragement, provide me with snack bags for meets, and even wrote me a "Good Luck! We are proud of you" message on our community advertisement board. Even though I'm not even in the community anymore, I still get messages, letters and Facebook comments from random people back home, asking about me and my new life.

Topeka is definitely not the same as Riverton in that way, mainly because the city is so big. I've noticed people take advantage of other people and are quite bitter to people they don't know. Where I'm from, if you have someone's back, you always have someone's back. Several of my city friends are completely shocked by the things I will do for strangers, and amount of effort I put in to people and friendships, but that's just all I know. I get an "everyone-for-themselves" vibe from Topeka and it is honestly kind of disappointing. But at the same time it is nice to focus on myself a little more, definitely creates less anxiety in my life. Overall, small town life is more welcoming, but city life isn't so bad either.

Introduction

Hey y'all, my name is Shelby Edwards. I was born and raised in a small town in the southeast corner of Kansas called Riverton. If you're having a hard time figuring out where Riverton is, it's probably because it isn't even on the map. I graduated with a whopping 48 people, all of which I can list and could tell you fun facts about individually if you were really that interested in learning about strangers. I am writing this blog to share what it is like growing up in a small town in Kansas, and comparing it to the city life I am still adapting to.

I chose this topic manly because I grew up in a small town and faced a bit of a culture shock when I moved to Topeka. I was very well known and what some might say to be apart of the "in" crowd in high school, due to my involvement in athletics and social events. Moving to a place where no one knew my name or story was incredibly strange. Small town life really stuck out to me as the perfect topic because I have now experienced the best (and sometimes the worst) of both worlds. I absolutely love it here in Topeka, but there are quite a few differences that city people wouldn't understand about us small town folk. My intended audience is really anyone who is interested in the diversity in Kansas locations. Whether my viewers grew up in a small town and can relate, or have never stepped foot in a one-stop-light town, I believe there really isn't a limit to who I am trying to connect with. Anyway, stay tuned to read about my life experiences!