Appalachia

By: Doug Sidwell and Zach Robbins

            To live in Appalachia and to learn about Appalachia are two different things.  Doug and I have been exposed to how Ohio University and Appalachia interact for nearly nine months.  We both agree that we haven’t always considered ourselves Appalachian.  An Appalachian person has set values, beliefs and attitudes toward different topics.  They are also a strong family person.  These attributes do not mean that someone is or is not an Appalachian.  Many students at Ohio University may or may not consider themselves part of the Appalachian heritage, and this may affect how Appalachian and Ohio University interact as a whole.  To further investigate how many students actually consider them as Appalachian, we interviewed three of our roommates.

            The first person we interviewed didn’t want his name being used so the alias he wanted was Jake from State Farm.  Jake is from South Charleston Ohio and is a freshman.  We first asked him whether or not he considered himself an Appalachian or a part of Appalachian culture.  He answered saying “I consider myself partially Appalachian only because I live in Appalachian territory.  But I would have to say I don’t agree with most values and beliefs of many Appalachian people.”  Next we asked, “When you hear the word Appalachian what is the first word that comes to mind and why?”  Jake responded, “Hills is the word that comes to my mind.  I don’t know why but when I think of Appalachian people I think of people living in hills and making moonshine.”  After conducting this interview we can conclude that Jake’s view on Appalachian people is like many other people. 

            Next, we interviewed Jordan.  Jordan is from a small city in Ohio known as Springfield.  When we asked him whether or not he considered himself Appalachian he had this to say, “No.”  He was very short and to the point.  After the first question we tried to spark a longer explanation by asking him what are three words that describe an Appalachian person.  His answer was, hills, Athens and country.  He then explained by saying that many Appalachian people are very country oriented, located in Athens and in the hills.  The lasting impression Jordan left on us was the fact that many people see Appalachian as a location, and less of a culture or heritage. 

            The last person we interviewed was Dan. Dan is from Cleveland, Ohio and when we asked him if he considered himself Appalachian he answered with “No.” After that question we asked him what Appalachian means to him and he said it’s the area where you grow up, and the culture that is influenced throughout that area. The last thing Dan had to say was that he has really enjoyed his first year here because it is a completely different area that he’s used to and he feels that the diversity of all the people make it great.

            In conclusion the three people we interviewed show that although they are in the heart of Appalachian culture, they don’t fully understand what it means to be Appalachian.  In our opinions the University needs to do a better job of connecting with the Appalachian culture.  If there isn’t a connection made, then we will have many other students like the ones we interviewed who will be blind and unaware of their surroundings.  All we need is for someone to open our eyes and make us realize how beautiful Appalachia truly is.