Finding Small Town America

By definition, a small town is defined as a town with 25000 to 50000 residents. Numbers are a big part of who I am since my role as an educator is to teach students how to use and manipulate numbers. But these numbers truly are irrelevant to me. My idea of a small town stretches far beyond the numbers.

“Small Town America” is a feeling that one has not about a town, but the people that we meet in life. It is a feeling of belonging, a sense of security, a desire to socialize with and know your neighbors. It is a sense of family and recognizing that friends become family. It is knowing that you always have people that you can count on. It is a sense of pride in who you are and what you do.

On my journey across the country I found “Small Town America” in towns that far exceeded 50,000. So although the numbers exist within a supported definition, they do not define what “Small Town America” is. This definition exists only in how we view the world and the people we encounter in life.