A lot of effort has recently been placed on keeping college graduates in the state. Tuition reimbursements and added entertainment venues have been some of the ideas that have been kicked around in order to make Iowa more marketable to a new generation.

Well, I’m ready for my cut of the pie because I’m going to stay in Iowa once I finish school. I’m also going to try to squeeze a few more dollars out of the government and go live in a small town. Maybe I can talk the mayor of Colo into giving me straight cash to move there. Actually, I probably don’t deserve anything since I’ve always wanted to live in small-town Iowa. Although you may be frantically clutching your heart while reading this, it’s the truth. I find Iowa appealing to live in, and I hope I can stay.

So what does Iowa have to offer me? To start with, I won’t be living in a town, but a community. Iowans understand what that means better than anyone else.

It was nice growing up with the support of an entire community instead of just a family and a couple of friends.

It’s good to be able to count on the town to help you out, not only when you need it, but also when you don’t. Most of the time, it’s a good thing that the town knows what’s going on in your life.

The coffee shop clan might be the first people to know about your failure, but they’re also the first ones to tell you congratulations when you do something well.

Now the idea that this is a good thing hinges on the thought that you will do more good things in your life than bad. If you’re a chronic failure or a jerk, then I will admit that small-town life may not be for you.

Contrary to popular belief, small-town Iowa actually provides a lot of opportunities. I was a marginal (and I’ll use that term loosely) baseball player in high school. Even though I stunk I still got to play a lot because we just didn’t have anyone else. I also got to play three other sports, sing in the choir and act in all the plays.

If I had lived in Minneapolis with a graduating class of 1,400 or so, I probably would have been lucky to participate in one of those activities. My teachers and coaches were just as good as the big-city ones so it wasn’t as if any of my talent was wasted. I’m a better person for having those opportunities, and the reason why I got them was because I lived in La Porte City and not Dallas.

Finally, it’s not all about what Iowa can offer me. It’s what it can offer my family. Assuming that I can talk some naive young woman into marrying me, Iowa would be the greatest place in the country to raise my kids. I know that it is terrible to think about someone other than myself, but one thing that most people agree on is that Iowa is very marketable when it comes to raising a family. We are consistently at the top of the rankings in education, health and safety. We don’t shoot, rob or rape each other nearly as often, either. What can be better than that? Once you have a child that’s what you’ll care about, not how many clubs are within walking distance.

I don’t mind that many of my fellow students are leaving Iowa for other places, because Iowa isn’t for everyone.

What I do mind is when those same people make me feel stupid for wanting to stay here. It’s almost as if they think I’m stuck here and feel sorry for me.

The possibility that I could indeed get a job somewhere else hasn’t quite occurred to them yet. If one of my friends tells me Iowa isn’t good enough for them, I’m insulted because the Iowa lifestyle is a part of who I am. It’s like I’m trying to get a little kid to taste a food that looks funny.

Until they try it, they have no idea how good it can be. So send all your checks, gifts and eligible bachelorettes this way because it appears I’m going to get rewarded for choosing a lifestyle that’s better than most anyway.

Matt Craft is a senior in Secondary Education from La Porte City. That’s La Porte City, population 2,168.