When I came to LSU as a freshman, I only knew one other person. I wasn’t worried because I was under the impression that college would be filled with an eclectic population of students from all over the country, eager to explore the South.
What I found was a little different. According to the College Portrait website, 79 percent of LSU undergraduates are from Louisiana, leaving only 19 percent out of state and 2 percent from other countries.
I was confused. In my mind I was going to meet endless different types of people in college. And I have, but not without some searching.
At first I didn’t pay much attention to the lack of diversity and instead justified people staying close to home to money issues or homesickness. But after almost two years at LSU, I’ve noticed another major factor as well.
People are content here.
It almost feels like if you were born in the South, you automatically sign a contract promising to never leave the land of flat plains and two lane highways.
I’m not saying life in the South is a trap, far from it actually. It’s a great experience. But so is life on the West Coast or in the North. Heck, it would be an adventure to hike in Montana and see what the world looks like above sea level for a change.
But this plea for travel isn’t all about the scenery. Different regions of the United States possess special traits that influence opinions and outlooks. Spending your whole life in one state of mind is just unhealthy.
Residents of Louisiana sometimes wonder why the South is classified as backward and overly conservative. Maybe if these people took a trip to the East Coast, they would start to understand a perspective other than the one they were bottle fed as infants.
This goes for everyone, not just those born and raised here. If you feel a dramatic connection to the state you were born or raised in, then stop. You owe nothing to that place except a thank you, or no thank you, for the quality of your public education.
Other than that, you should feel free to move anywhere. You don’t belong to a state and it doesn’t belong to you.
You gain nothing by excessive state pride except annoyance from onlookers. So please take off those Texas Flag booty shorts.
The idea of being born, raised and retired somewhere seems a bit overdone.
There is so much more out there, and that is the mindset I’ve noticed some people in the South are lacking. The wanderlust gene got a little lost under all that humidity.
But the good news is there is still time to change that.
Students who are offered internships in Chicago or Los Angeles, or even a more random state like Iowa — please take it. There are endless opportunities to travel and work or study, so money is no longer an excuse. Like anything, if you want it bad enough, you can make it happen.
Get out while you can, and see what lies beyond the borders of the Mason-Dixon line.
Maybe I’m being too Jack Kerouac for some of you. I don’t mean to say that we should all retreat to our nomadic lifestyles and gypsy dance our way into retirement. I just don’t think it’s possible to be an independent adult without moving away at least once in your life.
A little open road never hurt nobody.
New York is next on my list.Then maybe Oregon to see if Portland is really as wacky as “Portlandia” makes it seem.
And why stop there? I hear a year or two in Italy is magnifico.
Just how a state doesn’t own you, neither does your country. But hey, one step at a time.
Annette Sommers is a 19-year-old mass communication sophomore from Dublin, Calif.