The Two Worlds Meet

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.