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Responses

Student

Responses

Large class size Main campus judgments Navigating large campus No resources for rural students Unprepared through rural education Overwhelming selection of resources

Few rural students on Main campus First-generation student naiveté Isolation of Ag and Main campus

Intimidating dormitories Academic expectations

Adjusting to diversity Large City

Crowds

Few rural students on Main campus Disconnect from community

Lack of close relationships Main campus culture

Homesickness Initial major

Parties Drugs/alcohol Tough to make friends Concrete on Main campus Work harder to find one’s place Negative faculty/staff interactions MU’s inability to communicate

Microaggressive messaging Duplication of resources 2nd _{year lack of programming} Unequal support from colleges

Several students including Aaron, Alyssa, and Ian indicated that many elements that alienated them in their rural community helped them appreciate how MU’s

environment was different. For Aaron, Alyssa, and Ian there seemed to be a direct relationship between their negative experiences in rural life and their subsequent

development of a sense of belonging within MU’s environment. Various aspects of life such as size of the environment, relating to peers, academics, and opportunities are discussed as they relate to students’ alienation in rural life and connection to MU’s environment.

Size of environment. Some rural students liked MU and the surrounding area because other than traffic and some isolated experiences, they actually enjoyed city life. Ian noted, “I feel like I belong here more than I did back home…there are things here in the city and the university that interest me and that I want to be a part of.” Most rural students mentioned that their rural hometown was geographically isolated with a relatively small area where individuals congregated. Kevin and Alyssa mentioned that there were very few stores or restaurants in their towns and if they wanted something, they needed to travel significant distances to get it. One benefit of MU’s environment that many students embraced was the convenience of close proximity. Campus seemed more self-contained and had everything students wanted close-by. According to Alyssa,

In high school if I wanted a prom dress or homecoming dress, I had to travel to [a bigger city] to get that because there is nothing down there in [my hometown] where I could get it and, yeah, we had to come to [a bigger city] for a lot of things. I would say we definitely came at least once a month because this is where you know, we could come to [a large convenience store] and buy bulk or

groceries because it was cheaper, even though we had to travel 50 miles, 100 miles round-trip. And if my step-dad needed stuff like car parts for his car, like he had to come to [a bigger city] to get those. So yeah, having everything at my fingertips is definitely a lot different. Like I can buy just if I really want a smoothie I can go buy one, it’s right there just three blocks away…so I think that was the biggest difference, was just having so many options for food and clothes and, oh my gosh, don’t even get me started on the clothes.

Relating to peers. While it was beneficial in many ways to have such close relationships as those often developed in a rural setting, several students pointed out some downsides to the closeness. For instance, Aaron and Wes pointed out that the closeness also meant that everyone knew everything about everyone and there was little to no privacy. Wes noted,

where I grew up, it was obviously a very small town. Very close-knit community. I felt that…everyone knew everything about everyone and like you couldn’t really do anything without like, you know, making someone mad or being under

someone’s judgement about something.

At MU, while solitude was difficult to come by, privacy and autonomy were in great supply. With so many other people on campus, it was easy to go unnoticed and unknown on campus where students did not have to answer to everyone else for their actions. According to Alyssa, students were judged more based on their intelligence than what they wore or how much money they had.

According to most participants, in rural schools, it was easy to find others to ostracize. Anyone who was different in any way was often a social target, which could

have damaging effects on an individual’s comfort and even mental health like it was for Ian. Ian’s unpopularity in high school no longer mattered in his new college environment where he had the opportunity to reinvent himself. Alyssa also felt ostracized in her rural hometown by her prosthetic eye and was relieved when she encountered very little judgement or teasing from her new classmates on MU’s campus.

Ian, Aaron, Alyssa, and Erin indicated that there were also limited options for friends in rural communities. These individuals were simply stuck with the people that were also living there too. This could be good if there were many shared interests, but Aaron, Wes, and Ian had a hard time relating to the few others, and there was no one else to choose from. Aaron said,

I mean high school probably half of my class wanted to go into either welding or auto mechanics. I know nothing about either of these things. So it’s just you know, if you’re personally researching something and want another human’s input on it, you’re out of luck.

At MU, students lived with a multitude of people many of whom shared their common interests. Aaron in particular appreciated the large population and wide selection for finding friends and other students with common interests that lived within close proximity. He felt this improved his chances of forming quality friendships.

Academics. The way rural students perceived academics in their rural

environment and college environment had several implications on their experiences at MU. For instance, students said their rural educators had comparatively low academic expectations and for some the schoolwork was not challenging. According to Aaron,

Coming from the rural setting there was no challenge…That ties into going to university with the intention of finding something more challenging than what you’ve had at home…I was genuinely just better at academics than my peers in high school so I would work on these assignments that were geared towards people that just didn’t have as good of a background from home or from their own personal interests to do this academic work. And I would just knock those out like bam, bam, bam. And you get tired of doing those so junior, senior year rolls around and you’re just not doing things.

Aaron was relieved when he came to MU and found his academic major much more challenging. He felt the academic expectations, at least in some disciplines, were appropriate to help him grow as an individual and positively benefitted his sense of belonging at MU.

According to the rural participants, there were limited academic outlets in their hometown high schools and many students were funneled into classes that they did not care about. At MU, many choices for academic interests abound with a wide variety of academic options for students to choose from. Ian noted,

In high school, there’s so many like topics that we’re just forced to learn about that I don’t care about. Like I took Trigonometry and stuff and I just hate math. Now, I’m a political science major so I don’t need math…There’s a lot more options in terms of academics and so you can really find something that you can enjoy and not have to take classes that you hate…you can really try to design your academic experience in a way that you enjoy and find engaging.

Being engaged academically had a positive influence on rural students developing a sense of belonging at MU and for some students, many academic options and high expectations were what they needed to thrive in their new environment.

Opportunities and diversity. According to Ian, the mentality of people in his rural environment was very “homogenized” and he felt he did not have many options to develop. For students like Ian, Aaron, Kylie, and Alyssa, who did not want to live in an insulated, isolated world of agriculture, this environment felt a bit claustrophobic, where there seemed to be fewer opportunities for growth outside of what could be done in a small rural community. With multiple student organizations, spaces for sharing of ideas, and general diversity on campus, students like Alyssa and Ian could thrive in the MU environment.

In addition, several of the first-generation students and those from lower-income families felt that the financial accessibility of MU contributed to their sense of belonging. Either through scholarship programs or grants, students who felt normally they would not have gotten a chance at higher education appreciated that MU made it possible for them to attend college. Alyssa and Ian particularly appreciated the opportunities that MU provided and noted how they felt they belonged financially. Ian explained,

I’ve never felt like the fact that I come from a low income background has you know, made me feel like I don’t belong maybe because this is a very affordable place and it feels like they want to help people who are like that succeed. Opportunities at MU that exposed students to new perspectives and enabled them to experience things they otherwise would not be able to experience proved to be another

example of how students that were alienated by aspects of their rural life could appreciate the differences in MU’s environment.