Issue date: 4/30/07 Section: Aggielife

Cisneros said the closed-mindedness of small town, rural society is one of the main reasons why she prefers the city.

"It really seems like small town people are more closed-minded because they haven't experienced other cultures in the same way that someone in the city would," she said. "In order to be a well-rounded person, you have to be exposed to different people, and my experience with small towns is that you don't get that aspect."

Cisneros said for many students - including herself - it is often a struggle in College Station and other small towns to feel accepted when one has different beliefs than those generally accepted.

"People in bigger cities are so much more accepting of other people in that you don't have to put on a face for anybody," Cisneros said. "That's something that I have really had to struggle with in College Station. It will always be a shock to me how someone can be so negative to someone else based on their beliefs. I think that it is really sad."

Cunningham said even the weekend entertainment scene is on a wholly different spectrum than what she grew up with in the Big Apple.

"I've been clubbing since I was 16," Cunningham said. "I kept hearing about 'The Hall,' but what they failed to mention was that it was a Texas country music dance hall. I told my boyfriend, 'This is not a dance club, it's a dance hall. Learn the difference!'"

In fact, many of the acceptable past times in which some students partake in within College Station cause Cisneros to question what some would consider fun.

"There was one time when I went out to a classier place on Northgate, and when I walked out, I saw guys dipping into bottles," Cisneros said. "Sometimes I just don't get it."

Kane said many of the ideas that city folk have of rural living are cliché and in some circumstances, far from the truth.

"Living in a small town, the perception is different from those looking in," Kane said. "The typical culture is all about community. The highlight of the week might be a sports event or performance or just going camping and starting a fire somewhere."

Kane admitted small town life is more conservative than that of the city, but said that for one to say the citizens of a small town are not accepting would be a falsity.

"People are more conservative and just have a very elemental way of thinking of things. For example they're very religious, and faith is at the forefront of everything," Kane said. "But the people are extremely friendly and always accepting. It's just that sometimes we find things objectionable, and it takes people a long time to accept it."

Regardless, it is the feeling of something right out of a novel that keeps Kane going home.

"In my town, we really have all the elements of a William Faulkner novel with old Southern families," Kane said. "Though unfortunately, a lot of rural life is on its last limbs - those antebellum concepts."

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