UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAS
Mondav. March 13. 1995
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Brian Vandervliet / KANSAN
Dan Scharenberg, Mapleton junior, left, and Mike Murron, Xenia junior, are two KU students who have had to adjust to life in Lawrence. Both come from rural towns with fewer than 100 residents.
Students adjust to Lawrence
Pace is different from rural towns
By Brian Vandervliet Kansan staff writer
Kansan staff writer
When Sam Billing left behind his hometown of Holyrood, population 500, and arrived in Lawrence as a freshman three years ago, he felt a sense of terror.
"I remember looking at my dorm and just being scared," he said.
Billing's reaction may have been natural, considering that Templin Hall, where he lived, was ten times bigger than any building in Holyrood, which is about 100 miles west of Wichita. Billing said his entire town could live in one residence hall.
"There were so many people around that it just blew me away," he said.
Like Billing, many small-town students who come to KU have discovered it is no longer home on the
range. Although Lawrence is no metropolis, its population of 71,000 dwarfs the farm towns that some students must leave behind.
Dan Scharenberg, Mapleton junior, said the most difficult thing about leaving his hometown, population 90, was learning how to handle the heavy traffic in Lawrence. Mapleton, in southeastern Kansas, has only about six stop signs.
"There are a lot more cars, so you have to pay a lot more attention to everyone," he said.
Although traffic in Mapleton wasn't heavy, Scharenberg said there were other obstacles to contend with.
"One thing different about the traffic here is you don't have to worry about animals running across the road," he said. "I hit a calf once, which wasn't very pleasant."
Scharenberg said that he missed the peacefulness of his parents' wheat and soybean farm but that he liked the opportunities to meet people in a larger town. He said he also liked that in Lawrence, he could
have pizza delivered to his apartment.
Mike Murrow, junior, said most maps did not show his hometown of Xenia, population 10.
"There's no post office there or anything," he said. "It's kind of weird."
Murrow said he had been teased about saving "ain't" and "vall."
"I catch a little heck from the guys from Chicago sometimes," he said. "I think it's kind of funny."
Like Scharenberg, Murrow said he also missed the peacefulness of the country and working at his father's cattle ranch.
"Here you have sirens and horns, people screaming," he said. "You have to go out-of-town just to see the stars. But it's a learning experience — something I'll tell my grandkids about."
Amy Thomson, junior, said moving away from her hometown of Johnson, population 1,200, had not been a difficult transition.
"It's the same type of people, just more of them," she said.
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Experience counts for a lot.
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