Kendra White

Jasmine Hilton
Thu, 30 Apr 2020 02:04:39 +0000
Hilton-SP2020

Kendra White, a second-year in psychology, was the only student in her graduating class to attend Ohio State. From Racine, Ohio, an Appalachian town struggling with disparities such as poverty and the opioid crisis, she had to push past opposition and doubt about coming to Ohio State from her background.

“I grew up in Racine, Ohio. It's a really, really small town, so very rural Ohio. I’m basically in the middle of the woods with a short two-lane road in front of my house. I graduated with 58 people, if that puts it in perspective.”

“Drugs are really bad in my town. Stealing, theft for drugs, and getting their fix is a really bad situation. That’s what most of the crimes and stuff here are. So you’re not surprised when someone else gets arrested for those types of things, which is very sad. But it’s what happens and it’s kind of something we’ve all grown up with and just gotten used to, which is something no one should ever get used to. But you do when you live in a small town that no one ever gets out of.”

“My county is low-income, so the schools don’t have the same resources as some schools in a higher economic area. Application fees were a big deal and finding waivers was something that the seniors struggled with in my community because we were all trying to find a way to afford it. A lot of people don’t go to college. I am first generation, so I’m the first in my family to go to college.”

“I was the only person in my graduating class to go to Ohio State. Everyone was set on me going to Ohio University in Athens. I just was not ready to stay in this hometown. I was ready to get out and experience something different.”

“Everyone knows your life story because you’ve grown up for 18 years together. So coming to OSU, I got to be the person I actually wanted to be. And that was really exciting for me to be able to take the summer before my freshman year to get to know who I was, and get to know what I wanted people to see me as.”

“I missed the early admission deadline by one day because I didn’t know you had to pay to send in your ACT scores from the ACT website, so I missed a full-ride scholarship.”

“I was so sad about missing out because that was the only chance of me getting to OSU, I thought, because I didn’t think I was gonna be able to take out loans. I was really stressed about that. And finances have always been a really touchy topic in my house, which is normal in my community.”

“Admissions options came through, and I never got deferred from OSU. I never got sent to a regional campus. I was admitted to the Columbus campus. I cried out when I got the admission letter. I was so excited.”

“I was told that I wouldn’t survive in Columbus because I’m from a small town. And when I was applying to schools, my guidance counselor in high school was helping me and he said, ‘Don’t be surprised if you don’t get in — you’re underrepresented as an Appalachian student.’”

“I didn’t know what Appalachian was, and I didn’t know we were underrepresentative. I was really confused about all of it, so I kind of did a little bit of research, like, ‘Oh, this is really cool. Like this is another part of my identity that I just discovered. So I see it in a sense that people are like, ‘Where are you from?’ And I’m like, ‘Oh, southeast Ohio.’ And they’re like, ‘Oh, I could tell by your accent. I’m like, ‘I have an accent?’”?

“I mention it once in a while if it comes up in a discussion. I try not to mention it because I feel? people have a stereotype of Appalachians to be rednecks and hillbillies. So I try not to mention it, unless it comes up, and it’s a conversation. I can explain this isn’t what Appalachia is. I get to use that identity and kind of make people understand that Appalachian isn’t just all backwoods and rednecks. We’re real people who have a real life.”

“I pull back and forth at myself. Do I want to come back and try to improve my hometown? Or do I want to stay out and be able to help in a different way in a bigger city like Columbus?”

“Because I’ve thought about coming back and working once I get my higher-ed degree and working maybe at a community college, or even in my high school some way, helping out here. I could probably touch more people’s lives and help more students if I’m in a city where I have more resources to help those students.”

“I want to be able to use my Appalachian identity, my first-generation identity, my low socioeconomic status identity, in a way that shows people I come from these barriers, but I’m still here, and you’re able to do that, as well.”