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But, these days, teenagers are also more apt to focus on other things, such as: Who am I? What am I doing? What and where is my place in the world?
Those are tough questions for people of any age, let alone teenagers. But they re questions that the founder and presenters of LIFT Wyoming are trying to help teens answer. That s why LIFT Wyoming exists - to put high school students in contact with industry leaders, those who have built themselves up and made names for themselves in Wyoming.
Many teenagers, when asked, will say they re eager to get out of Wyoming upon graduation. They don t fully see or realize the incredible opportunities that Wyoming offers but, more importantly, they re not receiving guidance from those who have benefitted from the opportunities that Wyoming offers.
In the fall of 2017, then Hot Springs High School senior Stormy Cox wrote of her home state: “In my heart I would love to stay in Wyoming … The majority of my family lives in Wyoming. It’s hard to leave all of them behind and be on my own. If I could stay in Wyoming and still pursue my dreams I would.”
Her sentiments were collected as part of a project that I and Felicity Barringer, Writer In Residence at the Bill Lane Center for the American West, undertook. The goal was to understand young people’s attitudes about a future in their hometowns and in the state. We asked Cox and a couple dozen of her classmates where they envisioned themselves in five years and what it would take for them to stay or, if they do leave, to return to Wyoming.
‘Love it and leave’: The choices facing Wyoming’s youth
Wyoming has long contended with a large outmigration of young people. (Illustration by Eda Uzunlar)
In the fall of 2017, then Hot Springs High School senior Stormy Cox wrote of her home state: “In my heart I would love to stay in Wyoming … The majority of my family lives in Wyoming. It’s hard to leave all of them behind and be on my own. If I could stay in Wyoming and still pursue my dreams I would.”
Her sentiments were collected as part of a project that I and Felicity Barringer, Writer In Residence at the Bill Lane Center for the American West, undertook. The goal was to understand young people’s attitudes about a future in their hometowns and in the state. We asked Cox and a couple dozen of her classmates where they envisioned themselves in five years and what it would take for them to stay or, if they do leave, to return to Wyoming.