COLUMN: Escaping the other 'ghetto'
Where I come from, there are no drive-bys. There are no gangs or barred windows. Instead, we traded those in for camo, lifted trucks and hunting rifles.
I come from a town with fewer than 1,000 people. My graduating class was 90 people strong. Even though I don’t come from Detroit or the inner city, that doesn’t mean that these places don’t share a common ground.
In a sense, they both share a “ghetto.”
In most rap songs, one of the common themes is escaping the ghetto and “making it.” That theme goes for both small towns and big cities.
Where I come from, there are two things you become: You either become a farmer or you work at the hospital. Most people from my town will never leave.
It’s depressing to see so many of my friends never explore outside of our city or go to college. They are trapped by the small town life.
I don’t know what it is, but where I come from, people don’t dream big or are ambitious. From my graduating class, I can count less than 10 people who have graduated college.
I’ve experienced four wonderful years at CMU, and I wouldn’t trade the memories I have or the friends I made for anything. Part of growing as a person and finding yourself is experiencing college.
At my high school, if you didn’t farm or hunt you were seen as an outcast. If you had big dreams or were ambitious you were thought of as crazy and delusional. The people in my town are set in their ways and they are happy with it.
The people who have graduated college often return to my town. There is something about it that sucks almost everyone back in. I love my town and friends, but I know there is so much more to explore, things to experience and adventures to have.
My dream is to be a sports reporter on television. Will I become that? I don’t know, but I’m at least going for my big dream.
If you’re reading this, you’ve already probably taken the first step by getting yourself into college. Whether you’re from a small town like I am or from a big city, don’t let your ghetto pull you back in. Dream big and go for it whether it’s popular or not.
I’m escaping my ghetto. Are you?
