A cliché unfortunately persists in the minds of many people. This cliché is to say that people born in the countryside are less likely to go on to higher education or to “succeed” in life. These people have the image of the peasant without access to the internet, who lives off his cows and his farm, drives his tractor and has an incomprehensible accent. As if the people of the countryside were “inferior” to the people of the city. It is absolutely cartoonish and amalgamated, but this type of behavior exists. Believe it or not, but one day, one of my own aunts came up with this sentence when I obtained my scientific baccalaureate and that I was going for the first time to a big city (Toulouse): “Aren’t you afraid to go to a big city? Have you been prepared enough? Because look, the baccalaureate you took here was different from that of high school students in Toulouse, right? It was easier. There will be a big level difference between you and the other students ”. It’s amazing, isn’t it? She seriously thought that since I came from the countryside, I had an easier baccalaureate and that I would be no match for the other students in the city. I find it tragic to still have this kind of behavior and thoughts today. But hey, let’s be a little compassionate. This kind of thought is undoubtedly the result of a lack of knowledge of the French education system, a lack of openness or whatnot, this is not the debate here! See, from a certain point of you, all this can be seen as some kind of discrimination.
The local newspaper in my hometown (https://lesaintaffricain.fr/) is aware of this cliché and the challenges students may face in going to big cities. It is because of my experience with these kinds of thoughts that I accepted to be interviewed to testify about my background, the possible differences that I noted between the countryside and life in the city, etc. The goal is to show that just because you come from the countryside doesn’t mean you can’t accomplish great things. Another student from Saint-Affrique testified in this edition. I leave you with my testimony, which I hope will help on its modest scale to restore some sort of truth and fight those absurd clichés! For my French fellows, the article is fortunately for you in French. But for my English-speaking comrades, here is a translation of my words so that you can make up your own mind about the potential similar clichés present in your respective countries!?
I will therefore end this short post with the last sentence of my interview, which greatly inspired the title of this post (and my passion for star wars too obviously!): “Originating from the countryside should be seen as a strength, not a difference”
May the fungi (and the countryside) be with you !
English translation
JONATHAN CAZABONNE 