When I was in high school, during a “career day,” I was asked what I wanted to do for a job after college. I answered honestly, telling the grown-up “I want to be a writer or a DJ.” You would have thought I said “I want to kick puppies and live under a bridge” based on the look of disappointment I received in response. As I write this in my forties, I guess I sort of get it. I now know most radio personalities and would-be writers don’t get rich or famous, and these paths don’t make for the most stable lives. The road less traveled usually comes with many forks, detours, and outright closures.
Later that same career day, a friend’s mom echoed the concern about my goals and emphatically talked me out of my career choices. I understood, even then, she was looking out for my best interest. “Why don’t you be a teacher?” she said. I didn’t have a good answer as to why I shouldn’t, so I decided to give it a shot. I clearly didn’t know what normal people are supposed to be when they grow up, and several of my friends wanted to be teachers.
The teacher thing lasted exactly one semester into college, when I got an assignment to observe a classroom in my hometown. In the not-too-distant future from my first semester of college, I will come to understand that I was not blessed with an over-abundance of patience (read: I have none), but all I knew in the moment was that I hated everything about teaching. Becoming a teacher wasn’t for me (although teachers remain in my highest esteem, probably due at least in small part to my now firm grasp of the knowledge that patience and I rarely are even in the same room). I’d need to figure out a new professional goal, and quick.
So, what was an 18-year-old girl to do? I had been vehemently discouraged from pursuing the career I wanted. I was absolutely revolted by the career I was supposed to want. I continued the rest of my first year, hoping I’d soon receive a lightning bolt of career inspiration.
I did not receive that lightning bolt, but I finally landed on Communication Studies—to the great unwashed a useless choice perhaps, but these skills help with literally everything in life involving interaction with other people. I loved to talk and write (hence my original “inferior” career choices), and I was able to do both things regularly with a Communication Studies major. I even eventually joined the policy debate team. That sounds like the nerdiest thing ever, right? It kind of is, except when you realize debate is also exhilarating, intense, and does wonders for one’s ability to research, argue well, manage time, and thrive under pressure. I enjoyed most of my coursework and debate training, finished a B.A. and M.A. in Communication Studies, and then, as so many of my generation, immediately took a job with no obvious connection to my degree or my preferred career path. I worked in a library, and aside from the occasional blog post, there was little writing and even less interaction with people.
Fast forward to 2017, as I settled into my new life in my old home county in rural Iowa. I was approached by a friend about submitting my story to the “Why I Came Back to Iowa” feature in Our Iowa Magazine. I jumped at the chance, wrote something I felt good about, and sent it in. Just shy of a year later it was published in the magazine, and I was overjoyed. I’ll have you know, at the time they usually paid in pie (maybe they still do), but my submission and photo received actual money. I could now say I was “published” in a way it didn’t feel right to say when I finished my master’s thesis. That story remains one of my proudest achievements, and I would not have gotten the opportunity if I were still in Sacramento.
As a rural Chamber of Commerce director I’ve written a recurring “Chamber Chat” blog, been interviewed on the radio and made radio commercials a handful of times, and was interviewed more times than I felt deserving, as well as submitted letters to the editor, for our local newspaper, the Eagle Grove Eagle. I would not have worked in economic development, which led to eventually becoming a “Chamber Lady” had I not moved to rural Iowa.
My husband and I have our own side business called Midtown Media that we run out of our home. We do, among other things, commercials, video submissions for contests, music recording, and voice-over work. I would not have married him, nor would I have known how to start a business, let alone a media company, had I stayed in a large city.
As I phase myself out of chamber life, I have picked up a couple assignments as a correspondent for the Eagle Grove Eagle and the Wright County Monitor, and was honored at being offered the opportunity to share this column with you. All this, too, is happening because I live in a small town.
I wouldn’t have ever thought any of this possible even living in Iowa City, where I was for 14 years after college. Cities, even small ones, are too big a pond to make such a quick transition, and with not much of a writing portfolio I was too small a fish.
My point in sharing this is it’s never too late to become what you’ve always wanted, and that is especially true if you live in a rural community. It’s a great environment for risk-taking. The support systems are robust, the costs of everything from housing to food are cheaper, and the number of people who say “oh, I couldn’t live in a small town” are massive. Great! More for us!
In a small town, opportunity is everywhere if you’re willing to see it and grab it. If your dream isn’t readily visible, that just means you can create it for yourself. And you should.
The idyllic life has gotten me closer than I ever thought possible to my ideal life. So, think big, small towners. The only thing between you and your dreams out here is you.
Sara Middleton is a correspondent and columnist for Mid-America Publishing and resident artist/owner of Studio Sol Gallery & Creative Space in Eagle Grove, Iowa. Email her at sara.studiosol@gmail.com or find her at http://studiosolllc.com
