Oxford Dictionary defines rural as “In, relating to, or characteristic of the countryside rather than the town.” The Census Bureau defines rural as "any population, housing, or territory NOT in an urban area". I have always defined rural as a cash crop across the street, high school prom at the Shriners center (aka, the old Piggly Wiggly), and at least one agriculturally themed festival per season, because that’s where I grew up. A tobacco free campus with a tobacco field across the road. The Ham and Yam festival in the Spring, and the Cotton Festival and Mule Days in the Fall. I would be late to school because I got caught behind a tractor and they would say “Well you should’ve left the house sooner, you know what time of year it is.” But my rural experience could still be very different from the rural experience of the students at Ashe County High School.
The first example is right there in the name: Ashe County High School. It is the only high school in the county, and serves about 800 or so students every year. My high school was 1-of-4 in the district, and I attended with about 1,400-1,500 other students, give or take for transfers and distance learners, and we were one of the smaller schools. I had as many kids in my gym class as some of my Seniors will graduate with. Make no mistake though; my teachers knew my mother on a first name basis, had taught her when she was in high school, and had gone to high school themselves with my grandfather. Back to School Nights were less academic and more like an extended family reunion. And that is something that the students hear me say and tell me “Well, yeah, that’s how it is here too.”
It’s fun talking with the kids at ACHS about our different definitions of rural. When I say I grew up surrounded by corn and tobacco and cotton, they tell me about pumpkins and working at Christmas tree farms. When I say I drove 45 minutes to NCSU for college tours, they tell me about their 45 minute drive to Appalachian the past weekend. We bond over trying to avoid people at our local Walmart so we can get in and get out without a 20 minute conversation, and we laugh at the “No Cruising” signs that are a staple of learning to drive.
I have always had a draw to work with kids (sidenote: my students hate when they’re called that. I try to refer to them as “scholars” when they’re working hard and making adult decisions. They’re “goofballs” when they want to be silly, and “kiddos” when they’re having a bad day.) I think that working with children and listening to them and instilling a belief that someone believes in them is the best thing I can do to help the world, even in a small way. The students at Ashe County High School help me to see that change in live-action. Every time they ask for my help, every time they solve the problem on their own, every time they can help someone else with what they’ve learned, I grow more and more assured that this is work worth doing.
Cierra Smith
