Out With the Old, In With the New
In the smeared rear view mirror of my car, Big Mountain vaguely skewed itself from my vision as I trudged my car down the unplowed highway. The runs grew smaller and smaller until I could barely see green and white patches sprawled across the face of the mountainside. The city lights were no longer illuminating the road as I exited the city limits of Whitefish, Montana. The close knit community and the friendliness that was spread through the town made for a great place to grow up as a kid. I was no longer a child anymore, at 19 years of age. I didn’t look like a child obviously, but I still had the mindset of a toddler. I had to grow up on a snowy day in January and make my way to Missoula, Montana. College life sounded so appealing to me growing up, as I had dreams of being a physical therapist and watched a few too many shows on MTV about college kids partying like rock stars.
When I arrived in Missoula, I was electrified by eagerness and anticipation as I passed Hooters and Johnny Carino’s; two of my favorite places to eat when I’d come to Missoula for school shopping years prior. After getting lost numerous times in the “big” city, I finally made it to the University of Montana campus. I was unpacked, registered for classes, and ready for a new chapter of my life.
The dorm room reminded me of a jail cell with the back breaking mattress, and plain white walls. I gave the “jail cell” a mini fridge, a mattress pad, and a few posters and it was now my home. The campus was so clean, with grass that seemed to be taken from a golf course and buildings that resembled churches from the 1800’s. What really intrigued me though were the people. The people were friendly and acquaintances became friends. Their love for the town was like nothing I’ve ever seen before. They practiced things to make sustainability within the society a tangible goal; recycling, using bicycles instead of cars, and other ways of energy consumption. The conservativeness of Missoula was so much different than what I was used to growing up. It was refreshing being around people that have such an attachment to their community and put forth effort making it a sustainable environment.
The nature that surrounds the community is very appealing to my eyes. Ever since I was a little boy, my family would take me to Missoula to watch Grizzly football games, and then afterward, grab some Fuddrucker’s to eat, and then, what seemed to be at the time, a strenuous hike up the zig zag trails that led up to “The M”. This formation is a concrete platform painted maroon and white to represent the Montana Grizzly colors, and people can walk up to it and look over the community from the hillside that the “M” sits on. After catching my breath, I would gaze over the county, seeing the massive stadium that housed the Griz football team, the beautiful college campus that sat behind the field, and all of the other buildings that surrounded the city. I was in awe, and at that moment, I knew that I wanted to be a resident of Missoula, Montana. I wanted to be a part of such a well maintained community and meet a plethora of people, and graduate with honors from the University of Montana.
Seven years later I was finally a student at the University, and the beauty of the town was still appealing, there were a plethora of people that I was surrounded with, and I embraced the beauty the town had to offer to the best of my ability. Missoula, to me, is like having the best of both worlds. You can enjoy skiing on the mountain known as Snow Bowl, or you can buy fresh jeans at the Southgate Mall, or go to a lot of the other shopping centers that are scattered around Missoula. In Whitefish, there was a mall that contained a hair salon, a thrift store, and a nutrition supplement store, and that’s it. The only real attention-getter that Whitefish had to offer was Big Mountain. So it was definitely a satisfying feeling, knowing that I could go shred on Snow Bowl, and then go to the mall that actually contains clothing stores.
Missoula definitely offers more than just a mall and a mountain though, and you will realize that when you go floating down the river with some buddies on a scorching summer day. The most exhilarating and memorable times I’ve had have taken place on that river, and my love and admiration for the Missoula community erupted the second I set down the river. The chilled water splashed my face as the rapids took my buddies and me on a journey through a sketchy canal. The floating expedition was filled with laughter and screaming and joy. The summer before my freshman year of college was when I truly fell in love with Missoula. Loving a place such a Missoula came with a lot of responsibility though. I was taught that lesson during my freshman year of college. I wasn’t just another student, but I was a small factor that helped keep the campus, the town, and on a small scale, guided the world be on a straight and narrow path towards sustainability. This feeling and this bond with the community was like nothing I felt when I was living in Whitefish. I was possibly too young to realize the meaning of sustainability, or too selfish for that matter, and never exerted any effort to help out the community. Being surrounded by a community that is selfless, and tries to make the environment healthier and more sustainable has really impacted me, and that is why I feel that Missoula is my bioregion. A connection that I’ve made with this place is not comparable to feelings associated with the other places that I resided in.
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