Our Appalachia

      As I drive down State Route 32 from the suburbs of Cincinnati to the outskirts of Athens, it's almost like traveling back in time. Since I was born and raised in the city, I'm used to houses surrounded by more houses, the bustling noise of people and cars, and little to no wildlife. This is why the drive down the desolate highway with the endless hills, the isolated houses, and the multiple dairy farms is always an experience.

Dow Lake at Strouds Run State Park

      Even though it is no surprise that Ohio University is located among the foothills of the Appalachian Mountains, it is a surprise to many students that Ohio U. is located within the heart of Appalachia. When you look around campus, it definitely doesn't fit in with the surrounding Appalachian community. According to Phil Sandy, a senior from Cincinnati, "the [college] is totally different than Appalachia." He thinks this is due to the fact that "OU is a mix of people from all around Ohio, not just the surrounding area." His reasoning has quite a bit of truth behind it. Whenever you ask someone where they are from, they usually either say Cincinnati, Columbus, Cleveland, or an area surrounding one of these cities. 

      To many people, Ohio U. seems to be within its own little bubble, uninfluenced by the surrounding community. When asked how the university could encourage better communication with the surrounding area, Sean Siegert, a sophomore from Vinton, made a valid point by saying that "the OU culture and the Appalachia culture are so far apart that it would be hard to find a common ground." Ohio University in comparison to the Athens area is almost like day and night. According to Kayla Theiss, a freshman from Gallipolis, a town located just an hour south of Athens, Appalachians are "simple-minded, dumb, Christian, judgmental people... who inbreed." When I asked her to further explain, she simply said, "not everyone is like that. It is the stereotype, however, because a fair majority of the people located in this area fit that stereotype." 

    I asked Phil, Sean, and Kayla if they considered themselves to be Appalachian. If so, why or why not? 

Phil - "No. I'm from Cincinnati. It's the total opposite of Appalachia."

Sean - "I do, but only because I was raised in an Appalachian environment. I don't agree with or enjoy a lot of Appalachian values or culture."

Kayla - "Yes, but I don't like it. I can't stand the small-minded attitudes and beliefs from the region."

    I found it quite interesting that Sean and Kayla were both born and raised in an Appalachian area not far from Athens, yet they didn't have many good words to say about their hometowns. Sean claimed that the area was "depressed, separated, and boring." While Eli Kimble, a freshman also from Gallipolis, claimed that the people in the area were "drunk, ignorant assholes." Kayla added that most of the residents are "simple-minded hilljacks who refuse to open up their beliefs to anything."

      Even though it's important for the students of Ohio University to be aware of the surrounding culture, it shouldn't have too much of an influence on our daily lives. The students shouldn't be ignorant towards it, since we are located smack-dab in the middle of Appalachia, however, it shouldn't be expected for them to drastically change their way of life.