Lingering Histories

This week, I found a particular draw to “A Geography of Stories” by Phip Ross. It didn’t make me feel something in a positive way, nor did it give me all kinds of great ideas about teaching, yet I still couldn’t get passed it. Perhaps it was because it talked about rural life – something I can relate to – rather than city life. In fact, I’m sure that’s what it was, because as I was reading through this chapter, I couldn’t stop thinking about where I spent most of my childhood and teenage years.

I’m sure anyone reading this post knows by now that I grew up in a tiny, rural town in northern Minnesota called Pequot Lakes. I have very mixed feelings about my hometown. When asked about it, my mind typically zeros in on the negatives of it. I frequently talk about how the area was so desolate that kids used to hang out at the local gas station for entertainment. Or I talk about how everyone is practically a white, conservative, straight, Christian photocopy of one another. Or how not only did everyone know everyone else and their gossip, but also most people were related in one way or another. The lack of hesitance I had when I decided to move to a city should indicate pretty well how much I felt like I belonged to the community I came from.

However, reading through Ross’s chapter made me think more deeply about my hometown and how I wouldn’t be where I am today if it weren’t for the fact I grew up there. This chapter centered around the idea that “place influences identity,” that you can’t truly escape your place of origin (Ross 44). At one point, Ross says, “As we grow, we loosen the hold on our childhoods, but continue to be nourished by the places they gave us” (Ross 47). I took that to mean that we may forget about the places we come from – intentionally or otherwise – but we are ultimately made from those places and will carry certain relics from them, whether we like it or not. This is something I’ve experienced a lot, especially since I started this graduate program.

As I’ve filled out 100 reflections over the past several months, I’ve found myself thinking back to my hometown more times than I’d like. I’ve looked back on the community I’ve come from, the education I received, and how my identity has been shaped by these experiences. As much as I’d like to forget about Pequot Lakes, I find that it’s important for me to reflect back on my past in order to grow into my future. I believe this process is especially important for me, as I plan to teach students who will come from very different backgrounds from the one I have. I need to recognize the challenges that will come from these differences.

Source:

Ross, Phip. “A Geography of Stories: Helping Secondary Students Come to Voice Through Readings, People, and Places.” Rural Voices: Place-Conscious Education and the Teaching of Writing, by Robert Brooke, Teachers College Press, 2003, pp. 44–62.