Blog

YourHub.com \\ Parker \\ Blogs \\ Life \\ My Life \\ Mixed Bag

Blog Entry 76 of 78 BulldogBlog

This was in desperate need of an update. So, here we go! Hey there, readers! I'm Meagan Savage, a 2006 Chaparral High School graduate. I'm currently a freshman at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa (Go Bulldogs!!!). I'm double majoring in magazine journalism in English and I'm having a lot of fun doing it. I started using YourHub.com at the beginning of the summer and I've pretty much been hooked ever since. I also have a photography blog that (oops) I haven't updated in a while, but if you'd like to see those photos it's called the Shutterbug blog. I love to take pictures and I'm a photographer for the campus paper the Times Delphic (check out my work at www.timesdelphic.com) and for DrakeMag Associated Collegiate Press' number one student publication in the country. I'm not on as often as I'd like to be since college is pretty much a whole new world compared to high school, but every now and then I'll have some down time and my blogs will come in spurts before some less hub-active time. So, check it out, tell me what to think and thanks for stopping by :) :) By the way, you can Check me out on Brendan's List

Blog Url: http://denver.yourhub.com/~RebelXT

Entries:

It's not Colorado, but it will do just fine

e-mail to a friend | print this | link to this

NEXT › ‹ PREVIOUS

Contributed by: Meagan Savage on 11/18/2007

I'm in love. It's a forbidden love, too.

People like me aren't supposed to love like this. At least that's certainly the message I'm picking up.

This isn't a public declaration of love for a person (I doubt I'd have the nerve to write a blog about that). No, this is a public declaration of love for a place. You see, I love Iowa.

Have you gasped yet? Did you have to do a double-take and read that line again? Did you spit your drink out? Have you slipped out of your chair with your mouth hanging open in disbelief? Well, compose yourself and pay attention!

This is not a joke and to be honest, I'm really quite sick of Drake kids hating on Iowa. Some of them are Iowans who are, to say the least, anxious to move on to bigger and better things. But the rest of them are out-of-staters like myself who come in to Iowa with a bad attitude and try desperately to hang on to it.

Why? Why do people hate it here? To some extent I can understand. I was there. When I moved I wasn't too jazzed about it -- at all.

I would talk to my friends who would say "Why Iowa" with as much distain as they could muster. I hated it simply because it wasn't Colorado. I thought it was boring and dull and I didn't want any part of it.

So maybe part of this unsubstantiated disgust with the state is simply because some people are vehemently trying to deny that Iowa, which is so very inferior to their state, is now home.

And what's worse is that nobody seems willing to change their negative opinion. Sometimes I think people love the fact they hate Iowa more than they actually hate Iowa.

I think they just want to blame Iowa, instead of themselves, for their boredom and unhappiness when, in reality, there isn't that much less to do here than in other states. I just don't understand what specifically people hate about this place.

I know! It MUST be the natural beauty, with those amazing pink and orange sunsets, the way the leaves change in the fall, those luscious fields of corn, those tiny blue wildflowers that grow in the medians during the summers, the over abundance of exotic butterflies, and those charming family farms.

Or is it because we're in the very epicenter of political debates and presidential campaigns? You know, those that provide us with a multitude of opportunities to not only fulfill our role as responsible citizens, but also gain valuable working experience?

Nope, that's not it. I bet it's because of that resounding Midwestern cliché that "everyone out here is so nice." Some stereotypes, my friends, are true. I hate that.

Seriously, do I HAVE to be treated like an actual person every time I walk into the store instead of just a run-of-the-mill customer? And, PLEASE, can't I just walk down the street without random strangers smiling at me? Come on.

It could be that. Or it could be because they're ashamed to be in the land so many famous people came out of. Buffalo Bill, Johnny Carson, John Wayne, Grace Pearl Ingalls, the Ringling Brothers and humorist Bill Bryson come instantly to mind.

Or are they upset that Iowa revolutionizing the fuel industry by producing E85 Ethanol? Gosh! I HATE the idea of being associated with a state that's producing biodegradable fuel! Anything but THAT!

Maybe I've helped them have a change of heart. Maybe I didn't convince any of them.

Regardless, the sooner they accept the fact they live in Iowa now and there's nothing they can do about it, the sooner they can start appreciating it for the wonderful place it is and, I don't know, actually be happy here.

Crazy concept, I know. And for those who don't care for my opinion of Iowa and are going to keep on hatin', that's totally fine. I just hope they don't get too jealous when the people around them are enjoying themselves and they're still unhappy.

< Previous: 'Leadership training' | Next: 'Call me curious' >

[Report this as objectionable content.]

SUBMIT COMMENT

Rate the above blog

Current Rating

Based on 8 user ratings.

Talk Back : submit comments to the blog

*Note: you need to log-in to add a comment or rating.

Thank you! Your comment has been updated.

Showing 1-4 of 4 comments

Submitted By: Michael Rule

posted on 11/21/2007 @ 7:54:59 AM

Rated Blog Entry

I love the midwest, too. Just not in winter.

[Report as objectionable]

Submitted By: Erin Feese

posted on 11/20/2007 @ 2:42:33 PM

Rated Blog Entry

Drake is a beautiful campus, and Des Moines definitely has its charms. When I went to Drake for school, I didn't even think about living in Iowa -- I was just so excited to be going to college. And although I just stayed a year, I think it was good to get out of the "Colorado bubble." I liked living there -- it is indeed pretty in its own way.

[Report as objectionable]

Submitted By: Rebecca Zimmerman

posted on 11/20/2007 @ 1:00:50 PM

Rated Blog Entry

And I'll confess that I love Indiana -- which is eerily similar to Iowa. Can't beat Midwestern hospitality.

[Report as objectionable]

Submitted By: Tom Treloar

posted on 11/18/2007 @ 2:28:36 PM

Rated Blog Entry

Love has many different faces.

[Report as objectionable]

Showing 1-4 of 4 comments

CONTRIBUTOR INFORMATION

Meagan Savage

Parker , CO

Meagan Savage has posted 78 blog entries and 61 comments since joining on 5/26/2006. Meagan Savage 's average blog rating is 5.

view profile » view other postings from Meagan Savage »

SAVE AND SHARE THIS BLOG ENTRY

digg	Google
del.icio.us	Yahoo!
reddit	Newsvine

What is this?

BLOG ENTRY RSS FEEDS

All blog entries

All blog entries in Parker

All blog entries by Meagan Savage

BLOG LIST

WANT TO WRITE FOR YOURHUB.COM?

Want to see the stories you write and the photos you shoot featured in the YourHub.com Thursday print section available all over the Front Range and with home subscriptions of the Rocky Mountain News and The Denver Post? All you have to do is register, then post a story or column, start a blog or tell everyonewhat events are happening in town. We will print the best stories, columns, event listings, photos and blog entries in our print sections.

Loading Ad