Let's See How Far We've Come

The other day, I had to look up the population of my hometown for a scholarship application.  The goal, I think, was to show the review board where we, the applicants, come from and how that has shaped us.  For those of you who don't know, I'm from a small town called Whitmore Lake, Michigan. The classification of this town is "rural" and I can't picture a better way to describe it.  The population is only 6,423 - only about 400 more people than the undergraduate population of American University.  The population is about 96% white.  This is the town where I was born and raised, and the place I developed my sense of self and others.  Yet, it's not where I ended up, nor is it where I want to return to live.  How did I become such a different person than those who stayed behind?  Did I belong there to begin with?  Did that small setting make me who I am today?

I moved from that small town to Washington, DC in the fall of 2010.  The population of DC is almost 100 times that of Whitmore Lake - 617,996 people.  I moved here for school at American University - a small private school that specializes in international relations.  I learned early on that I like to travel and am fascinated by different parts of the world.  Coming from such a small, self-focused atmosphere, I was afraid I wouldn't fit in and wouldn't understand as much as others who came from different places. My fears were confirmed in my first class, but my small town mind allowed me to understand certain concepts better than other students as well.  While I came to this elite school ashamed of where I came from, embarrassed that I wasn't as smart or as rich or as stylish as the other students.  Over my first year in DC, I turned my thinking completely around.  I learned how to be proud of the small town and homogenous atmosphere that turned me into the caring and interested person I am.  This revelation became even more important when, in my spring semester, I decided to study abroad in the fall.

For a detailed description of my study abroad experience, click here to read my blog all about it.  Living in Brussels, Belgium (population 1,119,088) became the defining four months that would shape my future goals and ambitions.  That experience opened so many doors for me by showing me the way Europe functions and the way the European Union plays a part in the world.  Living in a foreign country can make you feel big, important, powerful, or lucky; but it can also make you feel small.  Because I had already made an adjustment of my social norms from my childhood, it was easier for me than for the rest of my classmates to adjust to Belgian life.  At the end of the semester, I could really see myself living there and being European.  I know that whatever job I get now, once I graduate in May, I will be able to work in any environment in any place.  Yes, being from the small town of Whitmore Lake made me who I am.  Yes, I did belong there to grow up.  I learned to be independent, a free thinker, and open-minded to new places and ways of life.  Who would have known that a smart girl from a small Midwestern town could make such a good candidate for international work?  I certainly didn't, but I'm glad it happened this way.  Because that's me. And I would never change that.