“I have this impression that we were living in some kind of golden age”
Leah and Priyah are Grinnell natives and childhood friends. They now work with educational institutions in Chicago and Washington D.C. respectively. But they make the time to visit family back home in Grinnell whenever they can.
I asked them what it was like growing up in Grinnell and how they feel about their lives today. Here are some snippets of our conversation that I found particularly interesting.
Tristan (interviewer):
“So what's the experience like growing up in Grinnell? If you had to describe it to a stranger.”
Priyah:
“I think when I was growing up here, especially in childhood or in high school, I had a lot of discourse in my brain of like, oh, is this a good place to grow up as a person of color? And having an immigrant mom, it's not diverse so it's hard to see yourself or see others like you in a community like this. But now looking back on it, I think it was a great place to grow up. It was safe. There was community, there was support.”
“In the summers we would all just run around outside and our parents weren't worried about us because everybody was just there. And because of that we could do so much that you can't necessarily do in a more suburban or urban place.”
“And I don't think I realized until I left how much I love just knowing everybody around town and being like, oh hey, how are you doing? And catching up with people on the fly. It's something really special here.”
Leah:
“Yeah, I think so much of my just confidence was really developed in this environment where there were just so many opportunities for us. We could do anything. And we did. We did everything, all the sports, all the music stuff, all the theater stuff. It was actually crazy how much we were involved. And I think that did instill in me this confidence that I can do anything I want and I can be pretty good at it. I feel like it made us such well-rounded people too.”
Tristan (interviewer):
“Do you feel like the opportunities you had growing up are the same for kids now?”
Leah:
“I have this impression that we were living in some kind of golden age. There were some people, some teachers and directors that we had in high school who just have retired and I have a feeling of their irreplaceability. That's sort of the blessing and the curse of a small town-- when things are so driven by individuals, sometimes you just get people who are starting up new things, really invested in certain things and that's so cool. But it also means things just kind of fade out if there isn’t someone to come fill that exact niche.”
Tristan (interviewer):
“So what draws you to big cities?”
Leah:
“Well I could work at a college like Grinnell, but it's just so much easier to find those types of things in the city. Plus you're not just relying on one place to be your employer. If I was in Grinnell, I would have to rely on the college being my employer for my whole life.
Priyah:
“But also being able to do different activities, being able to have music in parks more than one day a week or events at museums for free, that sort of stuff can't be beat in a city.”
“I see a lot of young people staying informed but not doing anything because of this kind of lack of hope.”
Tristan (interviewer):
What annoys you about politics these days?
Leah:
“What doesn't”.
Priyah:
“I think the biggest thing in politics for me is that I can't see myself in there. I don’t see the things that I believe in a lot of politics right now, and because of that, I don't have a lot of hope for the future of politics at this point. Except for the New York mayoral race and that's the only one.”
Leah:
“I know a lot of people who just don't want to vote.”
“They just literally don't believe in the system. They're just like, I don't want to participate in this because I don't see my views actually being represented at all. And so it's like, well, I don't care. Ultimatley, I would love to see a better system, but until it's there, you have to keep working. I see a lot of young people staying informed but not doing anything because of this kind of lack of hope.
Priyah:
“Yeah, I think I'm registered as a Democrat right now, but I'm like, I want to be an independent. I don't want to be associated with the democratic party as is right now. Which is weird to think about 10 years ago, well, 15 years ago it would be different.”