1. Scars

He ruined three of his mother’s birthdays, all trips to the Emergency room. Once a broken hand, once a broken nose, and once ten stitches over his right eye. His mother never resented it because he would always win the state championships. The hospital bracelets all read some date in February.

2. Toothpicks

When I kissed him he winced. His mouth was raw from constantly chewing on toothpicks. I never said anything about the habit, though, because I bit my nails habitually.

3. First Move

He said goodbye to his mom and dad and all his friends and left for Spain. Six weeks later he came back to new home. All his friends were a fifteen-minute drive away. It felt more like 15,000 miles. Moving is always hard, especially the first time.

4. Mr. Brightside

“Every time I listened to this song I thought of you.” We were driving home listening to The Killers. He has one hand on the steering wheel and the other holding mine.

5. Ex Girlfriends

Her name popped up on the screen. He dropped my hand to click the screen off. As I cross my arms and look out the truck window he says “She isn’t you.” My heart beats faster.

6. Football

When his team loses, I don’t hear from him for hours. It’s a good  thing New England hasn’t lost much this season.

7. Love

He said he wasn’t ready yet. “I love you, but…” It was always a “but”. Or “I just don’t know how we’d make it work.” Today he got down on one knee. He made it work 2 years later.

 

1. I believe that Civic Discourse is an opportunity for all to take a stance and voice their opinion. I believe that all should have the same opportunity to speak as long as it is educated, well researched, and planned out. It should never be done in a volatile manner. It should be done in the most civil way possible. Arguments are a part of civic discourse, but they do not require shouting and violence.

 

2. I believe that everyone should be well educated and informed on not only the topics they are arguing for, I believe that they should stay informed of the arguments they are arguing against. This will help to formulate better arguments or even maybe change the perspective. By knowing both sides of the argument one can better connect with their audiences.

 

3. I commit to standing up for and representing those who cannot represent themselves. I believe that the strong should always stand up for the weak. I commit to always respecting others. I commit to never putting someone down because they are weaker or less educated. I commit to listening to all and what they have to say. I believe that an education does not just come from school.

 

4. I believe that one of the most important aspects of Civic Discourse is connecting with your audience. I commit to always taking the time to discern whom my audience is and what they are looking for. I commit to always tailoring my work, whether it is in speech or writing, to the audience I am presenting. This will require me to think about who they are, what they stand for, what they want to know, what they do not want to know, and what they support or do not support. I believe connecting with an audience is one of the best ways to be successful in Civic Discourse.

 

5. I commit to always attempting to expand my knowledge and my view points. I commit to trying new things in order to accomplish this. The new things may be going to a talk that I did not plan on, taking a class that does not relate directly to my major, or entering a discussion group I may not have known about before. I believe that you can learn a lot from what you see around you and your life experiences. I believe that one should always take time to explore new territory. Learning does not just occur in the classroom or the library.

 

6. I commit to always keeping an open mind. This means listening to another’s thoughts or opinions even though I may not always agree. This means attempting to connect and discuss with others that I may have never talked to before. I commit to always trying new things, such as talks, discussions, panels, activities, readings, classes, etc. I believe that having an open mind is the key to becoming stronger in your own stance. It allows you to see the whole world and its ideas before making any firm decisions.

 

7. I commit to standing by my core value of integrity. A person’s word is there bond. I commit to not going back on my word, making false or empty promises, or lying for personal gain. I commit to adhere to the saying “thoughts become words, words become actions, actions become habits, habits become character and character is your everything. I believe that Civic Discourse should be moral and not used for lying or cheating. In order to avoid this, one must find their core values and their character and stand by them.

 

8. I commit to always read. I will read the newspaper, magazines, textbooks, leisure books, short stories, and so on. I believe that reading is the most important part of learning. Reading causes you to engage your brain and learn new ideas, vocabulary, and explore new worlds. I commit to powering down and unplugging for at least thirty minutes to an hour every day in order to read text not on a screen. Though the internet is a great tool, nothing beats a good book.

Introduction

 I used to believe that everyone in this world should throw kindness like it was confetti.

I always thought that if you put good in, then you were guaranteed to get good out.

To me, the golden rule was binding.

One thing that I have learned in my 4 ½ semesters here at VMI is that you can unleash a ticker tape parade of positivity, joy, kindness, empathy, and love into this world, and you will not always receive something in return.

Because of this, I gave up. I stopped trying. I shut down.

But then I realized, that though I may not have gotten something large in return, if I looked hard enough, I was getting something in return.

 

Body

My mother taught me many lessons throughout my childhood.

Share your toys. Don’t hit. (For me it was don’t bite).

Lying gets you nowhere, just be truthful, even if it’s hard.

Respect the American Flag, and those who fight /fought for it.

Take the harder right, not the easier wrong.

Apologize when necessary, but don’t apologize too much, have a spine. (My grandfather really emphasized that last one)

 

1. The most important thing she reminded me over and over again was be kind to everyone I meet because I didn’t know the kind of battles they were fighting.
   1. She always explained to me that I could not possibly know what a classmate was going through at home. They might not have two parents, or parents who fought, or not have a home at all.
   2. She emphasized including the kid who was a little off, or shy.
      1. That no, he was not weird, he was just different from me.

• I carried this with me from elementary school through high school and then on to VMI.

1. She gave me the tools to accomplish this.
   1. Ask about people days/how are you, and actually listen
   2. Smile at them
   3. Include them
   4. Offer empathy, not sympathy.

 

1. I noticed a change when I got to VMI, though.
   1. I was and still am in a competitive, cutthroat environment.
      1. Many times the motto was eat the weak
      2. I noticed I was becoming harsher and harder each time I went home for breaks.

 

1. I began to see that no matter how much kindness I put into the world, I was getting very little in return, and it made me bitter.
   1. It came in my third class year:
      1. My boyfriend dumped me, I had lost my rank for something petty, my roommates and I not longer got along because they said I was too sad all the time, and I was beginning to get harassed online for a mistake I did not even make, and then I was asked to move out of my room.
   2. I did not see the point of asking others of their day or caring about their problems because I had my own.
      1. I retracted into myself and shut the world around me out.

 

 

• It took one person to make me realize that there was still joy and happiness in the world; you just had to look for it sometimes.
  1. That person taught me 5 steps that are psychology proven to improve happiness.
     1. The two the struck me were: Do one nice thing a day for someone else, no matter how small, and write out three gratitudes from each day.
        1. These two things force you to look for the happy, and after 21 days, it becomes habit, second nature.

 

The happiness comes, just sometimes in very small packages

Transition

I know that I still have a ways to go to make myself genuinely happy, but I know that only I can do it myself, and only if I truly want it.

 

Conclusion

I used to think that if I put good into this world, I was guaranteed good back. But VMI taught me that is not always the case. This place, and the help of a good friend, taught me that you could always get something out of it, if you look for it.

So, I will always throw kindness like it is confetti. Because though I my not get equal parts in return, causing the smile of another person, maybe just by saying good morning, is just enough to make me feel happy and good about myself.

The tag line for the Heart Of Appalachia Visitor Guide is “Find your heart’s desire… in the Heart of Appalachia.” The table of contents includes hiking, bouldering and rock climbing, golf, music, and getaway ideas (Heart). In a region that is known for its natural resources, such as coal and timber, and the stereotypical impoverished Appalachian hillbilly, tourism is an important factor in supporting the economy and bringing much needed rebuilding. Most Appalachia tourism sites’ claims evoke the idea that without tourism, the region would fall into a state of poverty and disrepair so deep that there would be no possibility of saving it. Though tourism is important to many regions, it still can have negative effects. In some cases, the economy is not improved by the travel industry because of the centralization and the land is sold off and owned by those who are not even members of the community. The tourism industry prides itself on having “positive interactions with the people and culture”, but it needs to be taken into consideration just how truthfully these people and their culture are being portrayed. Appalachian tourism is a great example of how tourism can be a quick fix for a region, but have underlying issues that are detrimental to the region in different ways.

One of the biggest positives given in defense of tourism is that it can bolster the economy in any region, but in most cases, the money made in the tourism industry rarely goes to those one would expect. In his article “A New Wave of Colonization: The Economics of Tourism and Travel in Appalachian Kentucky”, Stephen Whitaker discusses the development of the Appalachian travel industry as an “induced system.” This is a system in which “the roles of the local population and government are impeded by both outside control and local elites” (Whitaker, 40). What this means is that those who are able to make the money and benefit from the rewards are not those that need it the most. Whitaker gives the example of the Kentucky Tourism Development Act. This act gives tax incentives to those who can create and sustain new “tourism projects” (Whitaker, 40). This means that the areas that are most likely able to support new tourism projects are the ones without individuals in the community that can afford to create them. This leads to the outside development of the region and the economy being stimulated for those that can afford one million dollar projects. In this case, the areas with the most economical trouble are not able being stimulated because they are not creating the new projects, meaning that tourism is not actually a quick fix for a tanking economy in most cases. Another reason why the economies of these rural towns are reaping the benefits is because they are what is known as “Peripheral Counties” (Whitaker, 41). The marketing teams are advertising “day trips” to the country, but staying in the urban areas for food and lodging. This makes Appalachia the periphery county, which benefits the core urban areas (Whitaker, 44). The travel industry is seen as a fix for many economies, but a closer look at where the money is actually going reveals that it is not stimulating the economy of the rural towns that need it. In Appalachia’s case, the websites boasting new technologies and a stimulated economy that would not exist without tourism is just exaggeration. Those counties that are experiencing real poverty would not know the difference of having tourism or not.

There are alternatives to using tourism as a solution for revitalizing small towns. In many cases, when the national and international economy was down, tourism was not a solution because travel was not a priority for people. In a study of Dillsboro, North Carolina, Sandra Grunwell and Inhyuck Ha found that the small rural town was successful after reaching out for help from a small nearby university, Western Carolina University. Their results showed the success of the revitalization of the small, historic town. These small communities that have a college or university nearby have the advantage of development and growth (Grunwell et. Al, 36). The benefits go both ways for communities and for universities. A university should take interest in the towns surrounding it. This makes it more attractive to prospective students and a more desirable choice. Reaching out to a local university or institution is one example of a way to revitalize a town or community that does not have the negative affects of tourism.

One of the most detrimental effects of tourism in the Appalachian region is how the people and culture are depicted. The culture is essentially “sold” back to the tourists as an attraction. The greatest example of this is the perpetuation of “hillbilly culture” of Appalachia. The stereotype was created by outside visitors to the region, but it is accepted and often exploited by many Appalachians. One specific example given by C. Brenden Martin in his book Tourism in the Mountain South: A Double-Edged Sword, is the actions of “Slim Jim” Pryor and the “Travelin’ Hillbillies” who drew a crowd by acting drunk and rowdy as a way to promote travel to the Great Smokey Mountains and Gatlinburg. This is just one example of many of people using the hillbilly persona as an attraction to the region. They are giving in to the middle class perception of them and giving the entertainment they want. The effect of this persona advertisement campaign is the complete evolution of the towns and the cultures within them. Pigeon Forge, Tennessee was an area that was found suitable for farming by the earliest white settlers. Over time it developed into a tourist town that attracts millions of blue-collar vacationers every season (Martin, 164). As the area built up around Pigeon Forge, the town remained family oriented and religious, but through the generations a shift occurred. The best jobs were no longer farming, but those of the tourist industry. The people of the region began to play the part of the hillbilly Appalachian, the one that love God, family, and moonshine, in order to keep the tourists coming. Today Pigeon Forge has “The Strip”, a street lined with bars, restaurants, and shops all catering to the blue-collar tourist that visits the Great Smokey Mountains. Playing into the stereotypes in order to boost visitor interested has deteriorated the real culture of the region. The hard working, family orientated towns are starting to disappear as tourist focused towns like Pigeon Forge.

Though Tourism can be seen as a fix to a down economy in a certain community or region, it has other consequences that may be more detrimental than good. The tourist industry fosters government incentives, but they lead to outsourcing and centralization of economic stimulation. Tourism perpetuates the negative stereotypes that were assigned to the people of Appalachia by making them another selling point of the region. This causes the deterioration of traditional values and lifestyle. This deterioration is shaping the region, especially those that see high volumes of tourists. More alternatives to small town revitalization need to be found because the tourism industry is taking away the traditional values of country and small town life. The Appalachian region is allowing outsiders to dictate their culture and economy.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Works Cited

 

Grunwell, Sandra & Inhyuck, ‘Steve’ Ha. “How to Revitalize a Small Rural Town? An Empirical Study to Factors for Success”. Journal of Rural and Community Development, 2014, pp. 32-50.

 

Martin, C. Brendan. “From Golden Cornfields to Golden Arches: The Economic and Cultural Evolution of Pigeon Forge, Tennessee”. Journal of the Appalachian Studies Association, vol. 6, Appalachian Adaptations to a Changing World, 1994, pp. 163-172.

 

Martin, C. Brendan. Tourism in the Mountain South: A Double-Edged Sword. Knoxville: U of Tennessee, 2007. Print.

 

Whitaker, Stephen Paul. “A New Wave of Colonization: The Economics of Tourism and Travel Industry in Appalachian Kentucky.” Journal of Appalachian Studies, vol. 6, no. 1/2, spring/fall 2000, pp. 35-48.