Imagine vast fields of cotton and corn and beans. Rolling,
golden hills in the fall, after harvest. Luscious, winding fields in the
spring, before planting. The smells of honeysuckle, clover, tap water, and
dirt. Cicadas hammering through the daytime and all throughout the summer
nights, forever etched in your memory and forever associated with the stifling,
summer heat. Pavement cracked, roots of trees protruding out of the ground,
rusty tools from the early part of last century jutting out of old barns still
used to this day. Riding in a loud, jostling truck twice as old as you are,
with no heat or air-conditioning. Cutting, hauling, and chopping down an old
tree, both to move it out of the way of a path so the tractor can fit through
and to have firewood for the winter. Barbed-wire fencing that has the thick,
black hair of the cow that you took care of when it was a baby as it walked
along the fence.
This is my life.
Fast forward a few years. That long drive. A commute that
would eventually eat up your time. The fast-paced movements of the city.
Concrete and brick in every direction. People walking with a purpose, because
they have somewhere they need to be. Nobody really looks at each other. But the
buildings are nicer. If something is old, replace it and make it better. Every
second of the day is utilized. The energy is different. There is hope and a
chance of a better future. There are possibilities, resources. You mean to tell
me that there is internet almost everywhere? Look at this new gadget! I didn't
know you could do that.
This is my life too.
I had grown up a southern girl. Be kind, self-sufficient,
tough. Respect your elders and never think you are better than anyone else, and
never let anyone think they are better than you. I had grown up in a culture
that thought in a certain way. Not a bad way, just in a certain way. But I
wanted more out of life. I wanted a higher education. And I didn't want to
attend the local community college; I wanted to go to a university.
So I did.
You've imagined fields of grain and all of that romantic
stuff. Now imagine being plunged in a pool of freezing, murky water, with the
sunlight edging further and further away. Your limbs are so frozen that they
can’t move and you can feel the water pressing all around you and hear your
heart beating hard in your chest.
Culture shock.
