Different in DuBois: What it’s like growing up when you feel like an outsider
Being from a small town has its challenges
When you meet someone you can usually tell where they came from; they either have that interesting urban attitude or innocent small town charm. But sometimes you meet someone who you can’t quite place where they’re from. I’m that person. And I’m from DuBois, Pennsylvania.
DuBois is a boring town not far from Happy Valley. Like most of rural Pennsylvania, there’s nothing but woods and Sheetz. My brother and I were born in Pittsburgh (2 hours away from DuBois) and lived there for a few months until my dad got an amazing job opportunity at the hospital in DuBois. Even though I lived there all my life, my brother and I were completely different than the people I grew up with.
DuBois has a population of around 10,000. The demographic is expectedly homogenous: white, christian, republican. Difference number one: I’m Mexican American, non religious, and democrat. I spent most of my life super conflicted about my beliefs and heritage because there was no one like me around. But as I got older, I became proud of my uniqueness and embraced it completely.
Like I mentioned, DuBois is extremely rural. It’s basically all woods and fields. Our high school mascot was a beaver for pete’s sake. I lived in a little gated community called Treasure Lake which consisted on two man-made lakes, two golf courses, a few restaurants/stores, and more woods.
One thing I will always love about my where I grew up is the amazing view. I loved living on a lake and still look forward to coming home to it. Which brings me to Difference number 2: Unlike everyone in my town, I don’t enjoy outdoor nature activities. I don’t hunt, fish, water ski, etc. Nature is relaxing and all, but I’d much rather explore a city than go hiking in the woods.
Another thing about DuBois – most families are 6 generations deep. Everyone is related to everyone. You’d hear a lot of the same last names because of it.I remember every first day of school, the teacher would call roll and after almost everyone’s name he or she would say “Oh I had your cousin!” or “Oh I know your mother!” etc. But teacher rarely said that to me because of difference number three: I didn’t have a long DuBois bloodline. All I had was my parents and my brother; my extended family members were in Mexico, Florida, Texas, and spread among other states in the U.S. Luckily I had a big group of friends that felt like family.
Since DuBois was so close to Penn State, the Penn State pride definitely extended there. Not to mention there was an extremely small Penn State branch right next to my high school. (Shout out to Penn State DuBois for the college credits I earned in high school!) At least one person in every DuBois family was a Penn State grad or affiliated with the school somehow, but it never occurred to me to go there since my parents weren’t even from Pennsylvania let alone America in my mom’s case. It wasn’t until I started looking at colleges and visited Penn State’s campus that I fell in love with it and knew I wanted to go there.
This might sound like a resentful description of my hometown, but the truth is I don’t regret where I came from. I never let my surroundings or my peers change who I was inside. Growing up in such a small place made me excited to explore the world and eager to try new things. I’m thankful for that. Penn State is the perfect place for a rurally confused girl like me because I have the comfort of a small town with the large population and eventfulness of a big city.