When life in the big city gets rough, many of us think “if only I lived in a small town I wouldn’t have to deal with this,” and when boredom strikes in the small town we think “if only I lived in a big city my life wouldn’t be so boring.” Urban and rural lifestyles differ in so many ways including schooling, jobs and amount of competition; however, life in a larger city benefits students as they grow and mature. The urban lifestyle provides students with experience and education that is essential for traveling out into the real world, while life in a small town only makes students dependent and inexperienced.
Pulling out of the parking lot amongst 400 other cars isn’t unusual. Brushing shoulders with students in the crowded hallway happens every passing period of every day. Imagine going to a school with a maximum of 20 people in each grade. Everyone knows everyone’s name, where they live and what their parents do. In a large school students get to know people of all kinds. It is beneficial to learn about students and how everyone differs. Arriving at college, a student from a large school is not surprised to see the high diversity on the campus; however, a small school student may exhibit some sort of culture shock.
Life in a large city prepares students for the real world by making them independent. It is impossible to personally know every person in a city with over 150,000 people; therefore almost everywhere a student goes they are meeting new and different people. Going to a school where relatives and personal friends are teaching classes may be beneficial at the time, but makes a student dependent on the people that they know, restricting them from branching out to others as they get older.
Exposer to the good and bad of the world is inevitable. No matter the protection that a student is placed under, it is impossible to avoid being exposed to perverted and dirty things in life. When a student is exposed to these things early, they have the ability to define their own morals and values earlier on. Instead of being in absolute shock about the chaos and evil of the world upon arriving to college, a student should be exposed at an earlier age so that he or she may find him or herself on their own.
Life in a big city develops students more quickly, allowing them to mature faster and grow morally and spiritually. While rural lifestyle may be more comforting, it is necessary for students to branch out into the unknown before arriving at the doorstep of reality. Urban life prepares you for life’s ups and downs. After all, no one holds your hand in the real world.
