It seems like a Bulldog’s favorite pastime includes making fun of and complaining about our city of Big Rapids. I call that a waste.
I’ve joked about how hard it is to be respected as a Ferris student when I hang out with Grand Valley students in Grand Rapids. One of my close friends there refuses to come to Big Rapids.
I can understand a healthy rivalry, but we, as the residents of this town, should do better.
The main complaints I hear are that Big Rapids is too empty, too small and too country. I’m well aware it is far from perfect, but I really appreciate some of these qualities as a college student.
First, Big Rapids is far from empty. As someone who grew up in a village 20 minutes from a Walmart and 45 minutes from a Meijer, I’ll admit that I was excited to move here.
I hear people tell me that there is “nothing to do” here, but the town has a bowling alley, roller skating, axe throwing, a rage room, karaoke, a farmers market, cafes, dessert shops and miles of trails for walking and hiking. Not to mention any activities offered on campus for those who prefer to stay close, or the few bars and revolving door of dispensaries for those who want to get as far away as possible.
I guess any town without a movie theater or Target doesn’t have anything at all.
My friends and I take the long journey down U.S. 131 to Grand Rapids for anything we don’t have around the corner. We also acknowledge how much our bank accounts would suffer if we lived anywhere with more options.
It would not be good for me to have a record store down the road, just like it would not be good for my friends to have an Ulta nearby.
Big Rapids is the perfect place to save money for a few years. I don’t think I have any room to complain about living in a quiet town when my rent is as low as it is.
I can admit that Big Rapids is small. I may have gotten used to smaller towns growing up, but I acknowledge that this place might as well have only two roads. When I was 19 and fresh out of a pandemic year, I wasn’t ready for anything more than that. I had no idea how much I needed this stepping stone before I moved anywhere metropolitan.
This is an affordable town with a small campus next to farmland and Amish country. To use respectful terms, some may find themselves frustrated with the conservative, blue-collar atmosphere of Big Rapids. I know I did.
In time, I got over my generalizations about the town and Ferris’ student demographic. As it turns out, I hardly struggled to find people I could connect with on nearly anything.
People seem to fall into Ferris. They come here because it’s affordable, close to home or it has a program they thought they’d like as a freshman. This creates a student body that doesn’t believe they’re better than other people simply because of the logo on their degree.
We all know the things we don’t like about life here. Most of us will leave the moment we graduate, and many of us thought about leaving early. Those who stay through the end of our four years grow to appreciate it.
Our next homes may have better stores, restaurants and politics, but they won’t have Clay Cliffs, an absurd fishnet-clad Brutus statue or the people we learned to grocery shop with.
C.E. C.F. EC