In the state of Connecticut, success generally sounds like a farewell.
In classrooms, group chats, and graduation parties in Connecticut, you’ll more than likely hear somebody emphasize “I can’t wait to leave this state!” as if it’s something to celebrate. They’ll go somewhere nearby, whether that be New Jersey or Massachusetts. Basically any state, but Connecticut.
Departing from Connecticut isn’t only a standard, it’s what gets treated like motivation when you leave. People involved in Hartford tradition celebrate as evidence that this person has “made it” because they left a small state where rarely anything major occurs.
However, what does this indicate about the state when young people are being told the main purpose is to “break free” from it?
I voice this not as an outsider, but as an individual who grew up in East Hartford and went to Classical Magnet School. Now, I’m a student at Trinity College in Hartford; this is a mindset I’ve witnessed from many angles within the classroom, peers and the communities that’ve shaped who I am today.
Meanwhile, staying in the state is generally misconceived as accepting less. We give our props to individuals who got a job in Boston, Massachusetts. But, we never tend to question why that same energy doesn’t occur when people get a position in cities such as Hartford, New Britain, and Stamford. We celebrate absence instead of trying to correct the circumstances of why people want to leave in the first place.
Over time, this mindset becomes self-sustaining.
If we continue to normalize people leaving; what’s broken is going to stay that way because of the lack of urgency. Why commit your time and dedication into local communities if the standard is that the most disciplined individuals at some point will leave them? Why go through the effort to fix disparity, systems that are not funded well, and deprivation of opportunities if the narrative already has decided that leaving is the answer to that?
Not only do we lose people, it’s how the standards in Connecticut become lower. The expectation to advance. Expectation to develop. Lastly, the expectation to remain responsible for future generations.
As somebody who’s a college student in Hartford, I’m surrounded by passionate, hard-working students; many of whom have already made a choice that their dream is to be out of Connecticut. Not only that they lack confidence in where they came from, but mainly because they’ve been believing the idea that Connecticut in fact does not align with what they have in store.
Potential is not what’s holding Connecticut back; belief, support, and urgency is what’s constraining the state from what it could really be in the future.
We have universities that are very prestigious such as Yale, Wesleyan, and Trinity along with communities that are packed with naturally gifted students. Often, these abilities are overlooked by the lack of the drive the state has made to move even further and beyond, particularly for young people like me who are making an effort to make the most of living here to build a name for themselves in a state that lacks immediacy.
If our desire is for different results, we must change that story; we are the ones who can control the narrative.
Leaving can be beneficial for some people; it can bring in different views and even better opportunities. But staying in Connecticut should not be perceived as “low standards”, it should be viewed as devotion. It’s like investing into something that can potentially be bigger; be the reason why it changes for the greater good and not why it remains the same.
Staying, returning, or making a choice to build something meaningful should hold just as much weight.
Advancement is essential for people who are willing to show commitment, act on, and to need more from the systems that surround it.
Celebration isn’t the answer to leaving a state that lacks investment, the question to pose is: What should be done differently in order for people to stay?
- Build housing that’s financially accessible.
- Invest more in urban schools that aren’t funded enough.
- Provide tax breaks for families that are middle-class
That’s where the real shift begins.
Kenneth Okeke is a junior at Trinity College, majoring in Public Policy & Law.
