Rural Paths Deserve Deeper Exploration

I appreciate Raphael’s response here, coming from my own mostly-rural home state. I get that this piece is speaking of “small towns” rather than rural areas specifically, but I think the rural experience of alums could merit a deeper stand-alone exploration. The stories of people like Jack, Yolandra, and Angelo are the heart of this piece, and they’re much different that the experiences of people living in small jurisdictions that are still within major metropolitan areas. 

Further, these three are also quite different because they clearly didn’t go somewhere else first to make a bunch of money at the usual Princeton pursuits — finance, consulting, law, etc. — and only then decide to move to a smaller community with the privilege of wealth in hand. There can be virtue in such a path, but it is fundamentally a different one, and this piece could’ve benefited from exploring more of the tension in that dynamic. It’s a counter-cultural choice for a Princeton grad to serve something besides wealth, especially in one’s early-career years, but those that do so will find deeply rewarding opportunities to be “in the nation’s service and in the service of humanity” in rural communities.