A common factor among small-town high school students is the incessant urge to get out, to find a college big enough and far enough away from little 'ol home. Something none of these eager beavers never openly admit is that, upon arriving at their big new campuses, they are mortified rather than excited. They are no longer such eager beavers. After quite some time spent trying to adjust, find their way around and remember all 146 names they recently learned (other than their roommate), they realize that the transition may not be as easy as they originally assumed.
Not every small town kid will make it big just because they decided to go to a big college or university. While some do, and even love it, many that I have known in the past choose to come home after one or two semesters in order to attend a community college until choosing where they would like to transfer or deciding not to further their education any longer. I am more than sure that many students from small towns do exceptionally well at the colleges and universities that they initially chose; in my experience, still, many seem to grow uncomfortable and feel out of place, even after spending months on campus.
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However, students transferring somewhere smaller and closer to home has nothing to do with them or the big colleges they wanted to call home. It has to do with the way they were raised and where they called home for the previous 18 years. Being a part of a small town your whole life is somewhat comparable to a religious experience, meaning it is more or less like attending church (which also happens quite frequently in small towns). The cliche saying about "everyone knowing everyone else's business" is more than true. All problems, mental, physical and financial, are considered to be public information in a small town. Even relationships (correction: especially relationships), are free range when it comes to town gossip. Education, high school and college both, are also up for grabs.
With that being said, bigger colleges don't have all of those things (due to the large number of students on campus). That's what seems to draw in small town students the most. But, as it turns out, more often than not the students who attended a small high school miss the gossip, the drama, and the small town feel. That is precisely why I chose to go to a college on the smaller side of the spectrum; not for the gossip, but for the small town feel. I visited a multitude of colleges during my final two years of high school, many of them quite large in comparison to my high school with a graduation class of 32 people. I ended up picking a college in a town that, with a population of 5,300, seemed a lot bigger than the town I grew up in, which consisted of about 200 people. Upon visiting other campuses, I realized that I chose one of the smallest universities in Illinois. Choosing the small college that I did was one of the best decisions I have ever made.
Nonetheless, moving an hour away to attend college was still one of the biggest transitions I have ever had to make. The same goes for any person new to a college, but making the change of seeing familiar faces day after day to not knowing a single person is hard. But, because I chose to go to a college with only 654 undergraduate students, it was much easier for me to get to know other students and do it quickly. And, a small college means a small town. And a small town means that just about everything I ever experienced during my time as a high school student in my own small town was happening there as well. I did not feel pressured, nor did I ever feel out of my element. Even though the town my college is in is small, it is still bigger than where I grew up. But it never felt even slightly different. While I never actually hear town gossip, I do hear rumors about other students on and off campus constantly. It's just like being home, only with different participants in the gossiping.
Choosing to go to a small school was hard for me to do. During my senior year of high school many of my classmates chose to move on to "bigger and brighter" things by attending a university with an outrageous number of students in larger-than-life cities. I was never able to come close to imagining myself at school in states like Nebraska, Wisconsin or even Missouri. But even with all the pressure of finally choosing a college, it eventually came easy to me after visiting the campus just one time. I felt like I was at home. When you passed people on the streets around town they waved, everyone knew the names of the other people living in town and it only had one coffee shop, which I fell in love with instantaneously.
The transition may have been hard at first, but in the end it was worth it. I am more than grateful that I was welcomed with open arms by the students, faculty and staff at Eureka College. It is a comfort knowing that Eureka, Illinois feels like home to me and that I see my future there. Choosing a big college is not always the best option; I know it wasn't for me. I'm proud of my small school, and I think that everyone attending Eureka would say the same.
