Let me reach back. I arrived in the area in the middle of the last century. All those buildings were not there. Just a library, classroom building, the public school (yes Western owned a k-12 right next to the auditorium and the college classroom building). You could enter school in one building (first grade) and exit with a Masters Degree all in one place. Up behind the old football stadium was a short mountain. I found her there. Courted her. Married her. Loved her for 60 plus years. Her maiden name in on one of the new buildings. We did not hook up; we courted. What a girl. Pure mountain girl. A delight and powerful in her own right. All those buildings were just the future. We held hands and decided our future where there are now buildings and thousands of students. I am glad that others can see the magic of those dark and mysterious mountains, but I miss holding her hand and her voice haunts me still.
In my experience you will do best at Western if you are not responsible for your own rent. It is very difficult to find a job, me and lots of people I've met have had a ton of trouble actually getting hired at the places that do exist, and local businesses pay on the lowest end of the scale, even though rent is expensive. I've had unprecedentedly bad experiences since coming out to western NC due to both being unable to find a job (going hungry and nearly becoming homeless) and because of the actual jobs I've had (went through things I don't even want to talk about, and even changed my major after one experience that shouldn't have happened). I would leave but my programs aren't eligible for online learning, and Western is the only university I can afford that's in a town even remotely safe. I'm considering just dropping out of college at this point.
Thanks for the insight! All opinions are from real students; however, our narrator didn't always catch the nuances. Therefore, we are trying to interview more people to address the true subtleties. Thanks again!
