By Angela Haugen
University of Montana Western
The Rural Youth Voices Initiative seeks to empower rural youth to better serve their communities, reshape dominant narratives about rural engagement, and encourage rural-serving organizations to center youth voices. Twelve Fellows from across the United States received $500 and support from Campus Compact to support a narrative change or civic engagement project in their community.
My name is Angela Haugen and I come from a farming family just outside of Fort Benton, MT (pop est. 1,400). Ever since I was a little kid, I loved the way in which books were able to take me to another world or help me explain the real world around me. I remember reading books such as Little House on The Prairie and various books on Lewis and Clark and thinking to myself that they saw and experienced what I experienced almost everyday living out on the vast farmlands.
It helped me understand why the community around me was so important and valuable. It helped me gain an appreciation for rural farmers and rural living, a sentiment I carry to this day. With this appreciation for the world around me, even if it is small, I fell in love with history and how it can connect our world.
After graduating from Fort Benton High School, I chose to go to University of Montana Western in Dillon, MT (pop est. 4,200) to obtain a bachelor's in modern history with two minors in systems of thought and constitutional studies. I am now a Junior and plan to go to graduate school for museum and archival studies to preserve the voices that desperately need to be heard, like those of rural youth and the communities that nurture them.
I was drawn to the Rural Youth Voices Initiative for the opportunity to create a program to support the community where I live. Inspired by my major and my love of reading, my goal was to create a community excited about books and the potential they hold for bridging the empathy gap for rural communities. I currently work at the college library and have worked with them to create a display about rural stories and what rural communities have to offer. Online, I post on Instagram weekly about a book based in a rural community to reach more people and much farther than I can physically.
It is so important to read stories about rural communities because it creates less of a gap in how other people view rural communities and the wonders that a rural community can offer to the wider world.
When choosing a project for this program, I cycled through many ideas including a new club on campus focused on rural issues and ways to build community. Another option was to create a series of posters with fun facts or other information regarding rural life and rural youth. I settled on combining what I am most passionate about — my love of books and reaching rural youth and young adults on a personal level.
It is so important to branch out to students from larger areas or other rural areas to show what our town has to offer besides just a college — it is a vibrant community with a whole world to offer. Since I work at the library where I put my displays, is so encouraging to see people grab books and have much needed conversations with each other about their subjects. Online, I reach out to people living in big cities and other areas where rural life is seen as less important or something far away from their lives.
Literature can open doors and bridge gaps between communities that do not usually interact with each other on a personal level. In an era when division is rampant, rural literature helps everyone and can create a stronger, more united America.
I am aware that this project does not work to make a grand statement, but rather create a deeper connection with the community of young adults and youth around Dillon, MT. Big projects do, of course, have their place in supporting rural youth. In my experience growing up in a rural community, the small reminders of support and the ability to see the world around me in a different perspective through books helped me survive my feelings of isolation and loneliness that rural youth often deal with.
I hope my project supporting rural literature helps rural youth foster a love of books and their communities, but also helps bridge the empathy gap between urban and rural communities by starting fulfilling conversations on these topics.
If you wish to support my project, my Instagram account is @ruralliteraturecentral. Thank you so much to Campus Compact and the Rural Youth Voices Initiative for this wonderful opportunity to get this project started!