Where I'm From

Where I'm From

By Maureen A. McDermott
Enosburg Falls High School, Grade 12

Vermonters have to have a strong sense of where and what they come from. Often, even in other states, people from Vermont are faced with the awkward questions, “Vermont? What’s that? Where is it?”. People are perplexed about what Vermont is- could it be a town, country, or perhaps a state? Vermonters are left to explain, carefully and slowly, that Vermont is a state in New England. It has no coast line but a Canadian border. It is filled with cows, trees, and ice cream. It’s about here that people start to reclaim a glimmer of recognition that yes, perhaps they have heard of this state, and it very well may exist. In return, Vermonters so very graciously know where other states are, very rarely having to ask, “Massachusetts, is that in the United States?”. It is for this reason that though we give simple answers for where our state is, each Vermonter knows what Vermont is to them, and it is a unique answer for everyone. I cannot speak for every person who has ever lived in Vermont and I won’t try to, but I can speak for myself: I will never be ashamed of where or what I come from. I’ll always be proud of my state and hometown. I believe that the most important part about living here is never forgetting that Vermont, no matter how much you want to leave or how long you stay away, made you part, if not most, of who you are. If a person denies themself of their past, they lose part of themself that can’t be reclaimed. Vermonters end up strewn across the country and the world, but I’m confident that if you asked any of these people about where they come from, none have forgotten about the place where they learned about the places they would inhabit. This state, in its obscurity, has cultivated unrivaled athletes, scholars, and artists. They understand, as I do, the importance of their origins in this small rural state of Vermont. It is because of our beginnings here, not despite them, that we are the people we are today.