As somebody from a hometown with fewer than 10,000 people, I understand the struggle that students from rural towns like mine face when transitioning to college. I grew up in Grand Ledge, Michigan, a town surrounded by corn fields, where people drove tractors to senior prom and diversity was a foreign concept. I was lucky to have parents who pushed me to explore the world beyond the tiny bubble so many of my peers never broke out of. However, just because I was fortunate enough to have parents who supported my aspirations to leave our small town doesn’t mean it was easy transitioning to college.

I remember moving into Northwestern and feeling extremely overwhelmed, despite being ready to begin my college career. There were always people around me – every aspect of my daily life involved being part of a crowd. Despite how cliche it sounds, things moved much faster in Evanston than in my hometown. I look back now and laugh, as being here for three years has acclimated me to the pace of the city, but at the time it was an immense feeling of chaos. Now, Evanston no longer feels chaotic, but when you’re faced with moving from a small town, along with the pressures of planning classes and making friends, it can seem much more daunting.

What makes kids from rural towns different than those from urban settings is their ideas of what constitutes a social atmosphere. I knew everybody in my hometown, and everywhere I went I always ran into a friend or acquaintance. If something happened to one person, it felt like its reverberations were felt by the whole town. Things spread like wildfire, and although this had its positives and negatives, there was always somebody around to make you feel better. When you move to college, you have to come to terms with the fact that you might not immediately have a group of friends to fall back on. It’s especially hard for students from rural backgrounds to let go of their close support group back home long enough to find a new one in college.

Despite the challenges, I was incredibly happy with NU’s approach in accommodating students from all backgrounds. Wildcat Welcome gave us an automatic group of friends and, although we all might not have become best friends, it did create an immediate connection that made the transition a bit easier. The Fall Activities Fair was also a great resource to find groups that would facilitate the integration into NU. Organized events like these are the key to making everybody feel welcome, and as a whole, NU does a very good job of providing these events for students.

One suggestion I would offer is for NU to host an event during Wildcat Welcome geared toward students from small, rural towns. It would be an opportunity for these students to understand that there are others here who aren’t used to the going-ons of a big city. This might seem somewhat silly, but I distinctly remember feeling I was out of my league, surrounded by students who have achieved so much more than me and had opportunities I didn’t have. This event would ease the minds of students who feel the same way I did.

I know the struggle of coming from a tight-knit community to a place where it seems as if everybody is so much bigger and better than you. We may be at a slight disadvantage coming from these rural areas, but it doesn’t mean we can’t transcend our roots and become a part of a new community.
Trevor Stoimenoff is a Weinberg junior. He can be reached at [email protected]. If you would like to respond publicly to this column, send a Letter to the Editor to [email protected].