D-Town

I was in the mountains again. It felt incredible. The sky was as blue as the sea and I could breath in fresh, crisp air without choking on pollution in the atmosphere. I was back in Colorado; I was back in Durango, and I was the happiest I could ever be. My family and I tend to move around a lot, from state to state, small town to small town. Yet, something always called me back to this little mountain town. Something told me that this town was where I was meant to be. I was a junior in high school at the time and my mother decided to move me to Vallecito lake. It was beautiful. I spent the next two years at Bayfield High School. The people there were the most kind-hearted human beings I had ever met in my entire life. They were good-ole country folk; they didn’t care who you were or what you looked like, they only cared about who you were. This was a refreshing concept to me. No one ever seemed to care much, or ever thought to ask about my personal traits and characteristics. All I thought was that I wanted to stay here. I had finally had the chance to settle down and build relationships in this small town and I wanted to continue to do so. I always enjoyed Durango, it is such an extraordinary mountain town. Therefore, moving just twenty minutes from Bayfield, I decided to go to Fort Lewis College for school. It couldn’t be that much different from Bayfield- right? The two towns were only around 15 miles apart, how could they seemingly be any different from one another? I was greeted with a rude awakening when I decided to come to Fort Lewis; and yes, I do mean rude. Fort Lewis has a completely different culture to it in comparison to Bayfield. The classes weren’t surprisingly that difficult for me, which was refreshing. However, the judgement I felt at Fort Lewis was unlike any other I had ever experienced from being a new kid at any other school that I have attended in my entire life.

I have many different sides to me, I would like to think of myself as very diverse. I get along great with almost everyone, I have a lot of different styles and if you can’t handle my sarcastic humor then we might as well forget about being friends. However, most people at Fort Lewis were not so accepting when I showed up for my first day of classes in cowboy boots and a dress. They all looked at me like I was from another planet. They couldn’t understand why, perhaps, someone like me was at a liberal arts college like Fort Lewis. Cowboy boots apparently come with a huge cross you have to carry. That is all anyone can remember about you from then on out. They try to remember you and say, “Oh you were the girl with the cowboy boots, right?” Yep, that is me. Since wearing cowboy boots, they all expect me to have a country accent, fly a confederate flag in my truck, be close-minded, be conservative, have a horse, and always be chewing on a piece of hay. Listen, I can wear whatever I want, whenever I want. I chose to be at a liberal arts college because I love the town and the people from this area. If I can be accepting of your crop-tops and furry sandal slippers that you call shoes, you should also be able to accept my sometimes-country attire. However, this isn’t the case. Apparently, if you don’t own anything Patagonia and you don’t carry around a Hydroflask as a water bottle, then you can’t be included in the school of Fort Lewis. I had never even heard of Patagonia until I came here. Patagonia sweaters/fleeces are like wearing a gold crown on your head at this school. Without the Patagonia ticket of royalty, you are considered a peasant. Don’t let them fool you whenever they tell you that you can be anyone or anything you want to be. Don’t let them tell you that you don’t have to confined into a box of labels. They are lying. They don’t care who you decide to be as long as who you decide to be just so happens to align right along with them.

Also, I like to think that I have a very diverse choice of music. I listen to everything from gospel music, to pop, to country, to indie, to even the occasional rock. However, if I decide to drive to campus with my windows down, blasting my Jason Aldean music, people glare at me like they are trying to burn a hole into my car with their eyes. Why can’t I listen to country music? I guess it is the worst music known to man and it sounds like a thousand cats screeching. So they don’t like my music, why does that mean that there is automatically something wrong with who I am as a person? Why does the taste in someone’s music and personal character correlate so heavily? Oh wait, it doesn’t correlate at all.

I just so happened to find a few girlfriends who didn’t judge me (that I know of). Therefore, I decided to rent an apartment with them. When they would go hiking, I would never get asked to come along. Whenever they wanted to go climbing, I wasn’t even considered to be up for the adventure. Neither of them even knew that I could ski and that I was actually quite good at it. To their surprise, I even bought a ski pass this year. Why does everyone automatically assume that I am not capable of enjoying any outdoor recreational activities? Do they think the only outdoor activity I know how to do is bail hay and ride a horse? If I am feeling this sort of judgement from my roommates, I can’t even imagine the judgement I would receive from others at Fort Lewis College. Whenever someone puts that sort of judgement on you, it makes you feel like you would never even be remotely capable of participating in any outdoor activities. If you don’t have top of the line, fancy Salomon skis then you aren’t a real skier. If you don’t have your own mountain bike that you bought for $300 then you don’t know how to bike at all. If you can’t climb a rock wall, with those smelly, sweaty climbing shoes then you will never be capable of climbing. Also, if you can’t climb, then you aren’t allowed to hang out with the Patagonia-cool kids in the first place.

I am entitled to my religious opinion, everyone is. But, if you don’t have some deep, theological reason that explains your religion, you are a fraud. I have been in so many arguments with people from Fort Lewis about my Christianity. You don’t have to agree with me on everything for us be able to be civil with one another. You have your opinion, I have mine. Why is there a need to mock me? Why is there a need to disrespect a part of who I am? Fort Lewis constantly brags about how accepting of all people they are. If they are so accepting, why do I feel so ridiculed?

Don’t even get me started with the expectation they have for me in regards to my level of education. Since I own cowboy boots, I am expected to have an IQ of 23. Therefore, whenever I speak up in class, take part in discussions, or take the lead in group projects, everyone in the room gives me the strangest of looks. I did get into this college, just like everyone else here. I am actually quite intelligent if I do say so myself. Therefore, I do not need to hear any comments about how surprisingly smart I am or how you are shocked about the variation I bring to the conversation. It is just plain rude. Furthermore, don’t attempt to understand who I am on an educational level. Don’t attempt to know me and my political affiliations either. I am not strictly conservative just because I own a cowboy hat.

I don’t attempt to understand every single person at Fort Lewis College. I do assume that their a very broad range of students at this college. However, I wish that kind of courtesy would be granted to me as well. I don’t give sideways glances to everyone that I pass on the sidewalk on the way to class. Therefore, don’t put that kind of judgement on me. Yes, I wear cowboy boots, yes, I listen to country music, yes I own a gun and like to go shooting. I am who I am; no thing and no one can change that. We are all in college, simply trying to discover who we are and what we want to do with the rest of our lives.