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By Kylee Hoiska
Contributing Writer

“Where are you from?”
“Cumberland, Kentucky,” I reply as they stare back with a confused look.
“Harlan?”
“Whitesburg?”
Still no response.
“Well, it’s in southeastern Kentucky, tucked away in the Appalachian mountains. About a hour and a half west of Corbin and an hour and a half south of Hazard.”
“Oh,” they say in partial realization.
I know no matter how I explain it, they are not going to know, but the location doesn’t matter to me. It’s what inside our small community that means the most.
Growing up, I always hated the fact that we live in the middle of nowhere, especially when you have to go 30 minutes in either direction just to go to Walmart. As I’ve gotten older, though, I have realized how blessed I truly am to live and grow up here. I have gotten to experience things that most adults haven’t even thought about doing: learning how to drive a Razor in elementary school, growing a garden with my papaw every year then continuing the tradition once he passed, and even having a mud pit at my church’s annual campout. All those things have shaped me into who I am and how I see the world. They have made me proud to be from eastern Kentucky.
You can always tell when someone isn’t from here simply by the way they act when they talk to everyone. They never know how to take it — nice, mean, sarcastic — yet, they always will say how blessed we are. The thought does run through my mind that they have no idea what they are talking about, but if you take a step back, you can see what they mean.
For starters, the natural beauty of our area can be breathtaking. Watching the sun set and rise over the mountain tops everyday or how the trees blossom in the spring and change colors in the fall can make you stop in your tracks. I don’t think people around here realize how many wish they could experience those things in their life. Yet we go through our daily motions without a second thought about the beauty around us.
Secondly, no matter where you go, you know someone, and if you don’t, they know someone in your family. For some, that might seem like a nightmare, but for me it just means someone is always watching over me. I know if I ever needed anything all I would have to do is call whoever I know in the area and they would be there in a heartbeat. That in itself is truly a blessing.
There are so many more aspects that make our community great. I could ramble about it for days, but I don’t think I could put it all into words. Even with that, some days I think I can’t wait to leave and on others I don’t know how I could. From the rivers, to the mountaintops, to the community, I don’t think I could ever bring myself to move away from where I’m proud to be and call my home.

(Kylee Hoiska is a junior at Harlan County High School)