Small Town America

grew up in Chicago, Illinois, a beautiful city surrounded by violence and controversy by the media. I found things more simple when I was kid growing up here, there wasn't much to worry about but as I got older things became more complex here. The sounds of the " L "' or as you know it as, The Train, and the roaring sounds of cars passing by my house made me feel alive while growing up and as a matter of fact still does. You could wake up in the morning and see the vibrant blue skies being pierced by the skyscrapers and see other kids playing ball or riding their bikes. When it was summer time I would play ins sprinklers or go downtown and play in the fountains with my family. Of course, like most big cities I had to watch my back while growing up because you never knew what somebody was up to. It's weird really growing up here because you never know what's going to happen next , wether it's a good thing or a bad thing. All I can really say about growing up in Chicago is that if I had the chance to redo it, I'd do if a million times.

Growing up I lived in the small town of Duncan, Oklahoma; although, not nearly as small as the town I currently reside in. Throughout my adolescence, I attended Mark Twain Elementary School and as I was ending the third grade, my parents decided that we should move to Fox, Oklahoma to be closer to my grandparents. Moving would bring big changes my way such as a smaller school, living in the middle of nowhere, and new ways of entertainment. Living in the country has its pros and cons, but I can tell you the only thing I could think of the night we moved out there was the cons. Eventually, I had grown accustomed to the silence, lack of traffic, and having nothing to do. Looking back I feel that if we had not moved to the country then I would

As a child, I remember growing up in the beautiful city of Detroit, Michigan. It was clothed with one hundred plus degree summers, 6 feet or more of snow winters. A building called the Renaissance, which housed a rotating restaurant on the Penthouse level. It was the Motor city home of General Motors and the Motown city of music. Growing up there was so much fun and amazing to me. Where we would watch the bright, red, blue, green and yellow fireworks on the Fourth of July at Edgewater Park every summer, participate in community activities at the 4-H club. There were barbecues with our neighbors, one of which had a daughter with the exact first, middle and last name as mine. On the one side of me a lady everyone referred to as Ms. Pat, use to bake fresh yeast bread from scratch, and would always share with me and my sisters. We could smell it while outside playing in the yard and inside the house. Then you had the neighbor across the street with the rough edge to them, where you would hear an argument or two every once in a while, but when Mama needed some help while my stepfather was away in the Army, she could call on Joey and he would always be right there with his "yes ma'am and no ma'am" etiquette. With the memories of all things good from the eyes of a child, seeing everything as

Imagine growing up in a small town where everyone knows everyone's business and the nearest Wal-Mart is almost an hour away; then imagine attending a school where the amount of student attending is the same number of people who occupy a small town. The size difference is substantial and plays an important role. When I was younger, I had attended both a small town school and a school in the city. I have had the chance to experience the different lifestyles of these two variations of living. The development of who I am today was because of my surroundings. In the city, I noticed there was different opportunities. The opportunities seemed more readily available depending on funding and sources; which are dependant on the location. Education, development, and opportunities are widely known to be affected by environmental factors; thus, people who live in the city have a different experience than those who reside in small towns.

I grew up in a very small town in Maryland. The population is only about 5,000, so everybody knows everybody. The name of the town was Mount Airy, Maryland. I lived there all my life until 2010, when I moved down to Florida with my mom, brother and sister after my parents went through a divorce. Everybody I knew either liked the Baltimore Ravens or the Washington Redskins. I love the Baltimore Ravens.

There are various aspects that make up a culture in today’s world, ranging from necessities needed for survival, social groups, and the unique traditions they value within the specific culture. That’s why we all are able to conclude that culture is the fluid set of traditions, customs, beliefs, values, and practices developed over time by a specific group or community.

Regularly, we would go somewhere and do something new regardless of whether we were in the country or in the city. When we were in the country we would stay at my uncle’s grandparents’ house. They owned a cow and a calf, so while we were there my uncle’s grandma would milk the cow after dinner and give us fresh, warm milk to drink. They also had a big farm filled with rows of corn, which my siblings and I would run through. There was only one thing my siblings and I were not used to, and that was having to run outside to the outhouse when you needed to use the bathroom.

I moved to Yankton, South Dakota when I was 6. I moved from Kearney, NE. I was really excited to move into a new house and a new town. Yankton is smaller than my old town it's also farther away from all of my family. For the most part I like yankton, most of the people are really nice. Since there is nothing to do in Yankton besides shopping around town in little stores, or going to a movie, or even going to dinner, or just driving around, my favorite thing is going to the lake and the bridge. There for my favorite part is definitely the lake. I love the trails and the beaches and everything down there. It's so peaceful and beautiful it's just a great place to get away. I like my school too, I mean sure it has its ups and downs but in reality

I was in Kentucky and it made me basically homesick, because of a little boy showing me around a farm house with blond hair I also I drove around new circle 3 times for old times sake, it was a nice rental car and I might be delusional (JK!).

I grew up in two very different communities, El Paso, Texas and Olney, Maryland. I spent the first ten years of my life in El Paso, which being home to a military base, was a community with strong military support. For the past seven years, I have lived in Olney, Maryland, a small town with families that have known each other for generations. No one really moves to Olney, most families have deeply established roots here, so when I moved to Olney when I was 10, I was very much an outsider. El Paso was fairly limited to El Paso as far as short trips, but in Olney you can be to D.C or Virginia in about an hour; there is always something new to do. Although Olney and El Paso are quite different, they have both instilled a common value in me, take

Growing up as a child, I was different from the rest of the kids in my current community. I grew up in a tiny religious dot, barely recognizably on a map; West Union, Ohio. I moved to Cincinnati shortly before my first grade year, but I can visually account for many memories that were created during my first portion of life in West Union.

All of these memories have been brought home to me more often now that I am raising children of my own. Unfortunately, we were not been able to give them that benefit of small town life at first. We lived for most of their childhood in the big city of Sacramento, California. We were afraid to let them go play in our own yard, much less run around the neighborhood with other kids. All of the houses seemed to be stacked up against each other. The buildings surrounding our neighborhood were

I grew up in Bountiful, Utah In a large community filled with amazing people. I had friends of all ages, in fact, one of my best friends was an elderly woman named Carol McKey. I used to visit her house, she would teach me how to sew and bake, and I would occasionally come over for Sunday dinner. She was an adopted grandmother to me, due to my grandparents living in Miami and Virginia. I had the best friends I could ever ask for in Utah.

Growing up in Ellsworth has been a fun experience. I enjoy knowing where everyone lives and knowing almost everybody. Being in a small town has its perks. I think it has made me be a social person because I am not afraid to talk to anyone. I see a lot of the people at my church, school events, or the parade. This encouraging to see because it shows how the community also cares about each other and like coming together. The community also comes together during a crisis. This not only makes me proud to live in a small town but it makes other at ease because they know they have support behind them no matter what happens. Being able to help a friend out with raking their leaves in the summer or singing christmas carols in the winter always bring

Growing up in Kentucky, was more fun than people can imagine. Most people believe that we all grew up on farms, eating Kentucky Fried Chicken. But believe it or not, it is a lot of interesting things to do there. Attending the Kentucky Derby is a nice experience, there you get to watch the horses race and also bet on them. Also, The Louisville Car Show was a nice place to go and see different antique cars. Kentucky has the best foods such as White Castle burgers. They look like mini shooters. There's also a place named Kings that have the best fried chicken and yams you could ask