Growing up in Fayette County, there was nothing I wanted more than to leave my small town and venture into new cities that were filled with opportunity. Often, I felt that there was nothing I could do in my town. I had this lasting perspective that my hometown was simply a temporary place to live until I was able to leave. Because of this, I had bittersweet feelings about Fayette County. When I found out about this program, actually from a fellow participant in this year’s cohort, I was shocked to say the least. Every time anyone asks where I’m from, I’m used to saying towns that are in reality forty minutes away from mine, simply because no one ever knows Fayette County or the towns that are within. So when someone finally recognized my county, I was interested in learning how they knew. This was how I was introduced to this project. I ended up taking Politics of Appalachia with Kristin Kanthak to learn more about this Appalachian region and the history behind these towns. It was through this class and this project that I was fortunate enough to participate in, that I’ve grown a new appreciation for my hometown. There’s so much beauty in these areas, beauty that I was blind to growing up. I think that participating in the ACRI project and learning more about Appalachian regions and Fayette County in particular was essential in reshaping my perception of this area. Through this project, I’ve not only learned more about the town that shaped my development, but I’ve gotten to help research and propose future developments for challenges that I’ve personally been aware of in the community. As I’ve stated in previous blog posts of mine, my group focused on challenges that public schools in Fayette County are facing. From talking with community stakeholders, I got to see a unique perspective on difficulties administrators are facing. For future cohorts, this is an important issue to focus on as the benefits from this would be immeasurable. Public schools and education in Fayette County are a prevalent topic in this community and future collaboration with Pitt as a university would be incredibly helpful for this issue. From my research as part of the ACRI 2024 cohort, I found that though there is work to be done in this community, there’s a lot of potential and beauty there that needs to be emphasized. This idea that Fayette County is somehow lacking, an idea I originally had as well, is completely untrue. There are many assets within Fayette County. However, these regions have been neglected and have been struggling because of this. This is how I realized the incredible value in this initiative and how I reshaped my once negative perception of Fayette County.
This was truly a unique experience and one that I’ll remember for a lifetime. It has shaped my newfound perception of Fayette County and Appalachian regions in general. This project has had a particular impact on me since I grew up in this region. From having such a personal connection to this region and this project, there’s so much for me to tell about my experience when I am old and gray. Not only my experience researching this area and making on-site visits to Connellsville, but also the friendships I’ve made along the way. I was lucky enough to work with such incredible people on this project and they’ve truly helped make the experience as memorable as it is. Everyone was very welcoming and genuinely passionate about this project and its goals. It was great working with people as passionate about Fayette County as I was. Not only did I find their passion admirable, but I learned many different perspectives on Fayette County that I was not previously aware of. As stated before, our cohort consists of four different groups specializing in different fields. Urban Studies, Sustainability, Business, and of course Political Science. Their work was extremely interesting to me since, naturally, I was only focused on the political science portion. In particular, I found urban studies to be very interesting and their research valuable. I enjoyed discussing various issues like housing with members of that group and their supervising professor. By talking to them and seeing their work, I got to be exposed to a different field of study from my own and how it’s impact shapes development in rural regions. In the future, this is the story I want to tell about my experience working with Fayette County. I want to emphasize the passion that is within those working for this community. Additionally, I want to share the love and history of Fayette County. The people we talked to were extremely open about talking with us and collaborating with our work. In the end, our goals are the same. No matter where we’re from, we all want the same things. I’ve realized that while working for this project. There are certain perceptions and ideas of rural regions like Fayette County, all surrounding the same main conclusion; that they’re somehow different and this difference makes this region undesirable. This couldn’t be further from the truth, however. Like every city and every town, there’s history, art, architecture, and unique activities and places. Fayette County is a beautiful area if you’re open and willing to see it. This is the story I want to tell future generations when asked about my experience working with Fayette County.
This project was alongside a collective course everyone in the cohort took. This course was unlike any other course I’ve ever taken in the past. In fact, this research initiative is unlike other work I’ve done in research. This course was unique in that it was structured around student initiatives. The topics each of our groups worked on were chosen by us, and we were guided by our respective supervising professors. This was not a typical class where there’s a professor lecturing to fifty or more students, assigning roles and objectives. Any information we learned, we learned from experience and hands-on work. I think that this is particularly impactful since learning through direct work, in my opinion, has a far more drastic impact in shaping a student’s education. It’s because of this experience that I have learned more about how my previous education surrounding political science and economics affects the real world around me. This was especially valuable to me. There are a lot of students who can’t see how their education applies in the real world until they start a career post-grad. I’m fortunate enough to say that during my undergrad, I have experience applying my knowledge to create real impact in my own community. This is something that you can’t say for many other courses, at least not in the courses I’ve taken. Additionally, following from earlier, with this course, I learned about much more than political science and the processes of research in this field. I learned more about other fields I would otherwise never have considered. These alternating perspectives are incredibly valuable not only in the academic world, but in the professional world as well. Being able to interact with people from different departments in the University was an opportunity that I would not have been able to do outside of this course. In school, you are often taking classes with the same people studying the same thing. This course not only incorporates other departments within one school, but also students from the business school. It was great to have fresh faces and fresh perspectives participating in this project. I feel that that was what made this experience especially unique in comparison to other courses offered at Pitt.
To sum up my time with this course and the ACRI cohort, I would just like to emphasize how grateful I am that such a project exists and that I was lucky enough to be able to participate in it. It’s hard to put into words how much of an impact this experience has had on me. Growing up, my mom would always say to me, “You’re going to miss this town. You’re very lucky to grow up in a town like this.” And I never believed her. However, now as I’m sitting here writing this post in my hometown that I once hated, I know that I am incredibly lucky to have the experiences I did. And more so lucky to work with this community to cultivate this pride into something that can help this region grow. I now understand the deep pride stakeholders in this region have, as I now have that same pride for this county. I’m so thankful to work with such incredible professors and hardworking students throughout this semester. Even when there were setbacks, challenges, and looming deadlines, it was so fun working with everyone. I’m excited to see how this project progresses as we approach the implementation stage of Pitt’s ten-year commitment with Fayette County. I know that the work we’ve done, and the work previous cohorts have done have great potential in helping this community cultivate their assets into a flourishing region.