Finally a PSA about Appalachia I can support!

There's not much I can say about the following that it can't say for itself. I know it was intended more as a spoof, as the comment section states, but the truth behind it is real. This footage wasn't made up. This shows a side of Appalachia rarely seen in media, so please...take the three minutes out of your day to watch and learn.

Credit to this goes to Ryan Hall. I have only made it available to you!

Worth a Read...

So I've seen a lot of talk recently about a post by NPR titled "In Appalachia, Poverty Is In The Eye Of The Beholder." This was first brought to my attention by my cousin, and after I read it, all I have to say is well done.

The general idea of the article is that people in Appalachia, specifically Eastern Kentucky, are tired of being the poster child for poverty. Yes, there are poor people in the area, but there is also considerable wealth. There are houses in shambles and yards cluttered with trash, but there are also multi-million dollar houses and private, gated communities.

More importantly though, the author and subjects of the interview emphasize that while some people in Appalachia may be living in poverty, the fact has actually never occurred to them. To directly quote the article:

"But poverty is also in the eye of the beholder...Many people here say they're rich in things that aren't included in any official measure of poverty. Things like family and faith."

I couldn't agree with this statement more! Looking back on my childhood, yes there were times I wore hand-me-down clothes, yes there were things some of my friends in school had that we couldn't afford, yes there were times we couldn't go out to eat until pay day came around again. But I don't consider myself poor. In all honesty, I think I had a pretty darn good childhood! I loved my hand-me-downs! No one ever knew, and they were good clothes. I know there was disappointment at the time, but now I'm glad I wasn't handed every toy I asked my parents for. Had that been case my brother and I may have never spent so much time playing Power Rangers and Daniel Boone outside. But more importantly, if my parents had always catered to my every whim, and I always got my way, I would have been a spoiled brat, I'm very aware of that fact.

The last part of this post I want to touch on is the following statement made by one of the interviews:

"'We're probably one of the last few groups that it's still politically correct to make fun of," Wright says. "It's still OK to tell, you know, hillbilly, redneck jokes.'"

 Again, I have already shared one of my personal experiences with the Appalachian stereotype in a previous post, so I don't want to sound like a broken record, but this statement troubles me the most. Being Appalachian isn't bad, yet that is what the rest of America seems to think. The stereotype of "dumb rednecks," and "shoeless hillbillies," hits too close to home for me. I want to change that, I want to shed positive light on my mountains. And this article is a step in the right direction.

Well done NPR, well done indeed.

Full article: http://www.npr.org/2014/01/18/263629452/in-appalachia-poverty-is-in-the-eye-of-the-beholder

What A View

People spend so much time highlighting the negative aspects of Appalachia...but I wanted to take some time to highlight one of the positives...one I get to enjoy pretty much every day, and that is the view. There's so much beauty around here, people need to appreciate it!

No, I may not have grown up with Chick-Fil-A on every corner, or a mall closer than 50 miles, BUT I did get to wake up to this view every morning. A pretty decent compromise if you ask me!

Taken on my commute to work...tell me that isn't beautiful!

Why yes sir...I have seen a microscope before!

OK. So if I’m writing a blog about how growing up in Appalachia has affected my life. I’m at some point going to have to address how I’ve encountered stereotypes of Appalachia over the years. The instances are probably more than most people would expect…I know I’ve been shocked every time something has happened to me. But I’m just going to really talk about one...one that stands out the most to me and I still laugh about today.

For my first year of college I went to a small, southern school outside of Appalachia. Sure everyone down there loved to talk about my accent, but it wasn’t until my first night in Biology lab that I had to deal with the common perception of Appalachia.

We were going through the normal first night of any class. You know, the go around the room and introduce yourself thing. It got to me and I did my thing…”Hi. I’m Sarah, I’m from London, Kentucky…blah blah blah.” After I was done, the professor just kind of stared at me. I had no clue what I had done.

We moved on to the next part of class…familiarizing ourselves with the lab and where all the equipment was located. While this was going on, the professor walked over to me. Dead serious, he looked at me and said, “I just wanted to make sure you were finding everything OK,” then proceeded to point at a microscope and ask me, “Now have you ever seen one of these before? This is a microscope, I don’t think you guys have these where your from in Kentucky…let me show you how it works.”

I was speechless. I couldn’t believe this guy thought that just because I grew up in Southeastern Kentucky, I wasn’t worldly enough to have ever seen a microscope before. So, being my father’s daughter, I fired back with the most sarcastic comment I could come up with at the time.

“No sir, I haven’t,” I replied. “Our school thought raising the money to get running water was a much higher priority than buying the school microscopes.” He spent a moment fumbling around trying to decide if I was serious or not, until I started laughing. After that, the class proceeded on smoothly, and he turned out to be one of my favorite professors during my time at that school.

Anyways…I guess the point of me telling this story is to address that yes, I have been stereotyped because I grew up in Appalachia. I used to get mad and defensive about it when people would crack jokes about no shoes and outhouses. Now, I’ve just learned that when people genuinely think this stuff, it’s because that’s the only way they have ever seen Appalachia portrayed. So when I encounter that, I laugh about it, and jump at the chance to teach people that’s not all Appalachia is. It gives me a chance to teach them about MY Appalachia.

I am...

Before I talk about what I am...I want to first address what I am not. I am not a "mountain girl," nor am I a "city girl." I like to think I'm a healthy combination of both. I call myself (and this is my term...pretty sure it's not official anywhere) a Modern Appalachian.

I grew up in the small (but not too small) city of London, Ky. It's right in the middle of what is considered the Appalachian Region in Kentucky (I'm the red star).

The mountains, Black Mountain in particular, were just a couple of hours away, but then so were Lexington and Knoxville and Louisville.

My dad was born and raised in the mountains in the small coal mining town of Lynch, Ky. His dad was a coal miner, his dad's dad was a coal miner, his mom's dad was a coal miner, his uncles and great uncles were coal miners...he even mined some during his college summers. So that side of my family is rich with mountain history and traditions. So growing up I learned (and am still learning) quite a bit about that part of my heritage.

Then you have my mom's side of the family. She was born and raised in the same town I grew up in. Her dad ran a Texaco station right in the middle of town her whole life. Her mom was a school teacher. While she by no means lived the life of a big city family, she did experience more of a city raising than my dad.

So growing up for me, I was heavily influenced by both sides of my family.  I like McDonald's cheeseburgers, but I can make a pot of homemade chicken and dumplings that rivals anybody's. I have a smart phone that sometimes I don't think I could function without, but I also enjoy the peace and quiet of a summer night. I grew up playing Barbies, but I also kept a jar of fireflies that my cousins and I constantly refilled. Roses are pretty, but honestly, I prefer Hydrangeas (especially the purple ones). I have an accent, but only when I want to. I listen to some Bluegrass and Gospel music, but I also know every (and I do mean every) word to "Ice Ice Baby."

I love both sides of my family and have let what they each taught me shape me into the person I am today. Because of them, I am proud to be Modern Appalachian. As this blog continues I will write about my adventures, experiences, lessons learned, traditions, habits and life. And through this, I hope more people can come to recognize and appreciate the lifestyle of me...a Modern Appalachian.