A Place to Call Home
The United States of America is just that: 50 states under the federal government. Many students here at Utah State are from one of those 50 states, or from another country, and are proud of their heritage. For myself, the Silver State of Nevada is the place I call home – namely, Henderson. Sagebrush grows in my backyard, Mike and Spike were my pet iguanas, school is released on Halloween, and Desert Big Horn Sheep can be seen in the surrounding mountains. Henderson is the fasted growing city in the Nation and its Parks and Recreation Department received the National Gold Medal award winner in 1999. Nevada’s wildlife and outdoor activities can be experienced at any time of the year. For example, on Christmas day you can go snowboarding at Mt. Charleston, water-skiing on Lake Mead, hiking in the Valley of Fire or Red Rock, play sand-volleyball at a park down the street, or visit one of the seven wonders – Hoover Dam. What more could anyone ask for? It is true that there is a lot of “nothing” on the 50,000 miles of Nevada’s paved roads, but that “nothing” consisting of ghost towns, old mines and tumbleweed is our history. The people who once lived there built the rich foundations of our city governments, businesses, and communities – just like the Founding Fathers did for the entire nation. Next time you’re passing through Nevada, stop for a while and tour those ghost towns, be careful in the abandoned mines, and talk to your server at the lonely McDonald’s. Chances are that you won’t forget what you saw, and you might even learn something new. Each place and person of America has an array of history to offer the rest if the country. Let us each hold on to our own heritage, but at the same time be willing to accept others’. That is, of course, what is so great about America.
Ashley Stolworthyashs@cc.usu.edu600-44-8448755-6984