For many young people in Wyoming, leaving home is a right of passage. About two-thirds move away by the time they're 30, according to a Harvard analysis.
As schools, businesses and the government try to figure out how to keep young people here, Wyoming Public Media wanted to hear from young adults about how they're thinking about their futures. Here's a smattering of voices from the University of Wyoming campus.
Editor’s Note: These conversations have been lightly edited for clarity and brevity.
Natalie Grant: I'm a freshman. I am from Cowley, Wyoming. I would absolutely love to stay in Wyoming. I love the whole culture here. I love that even in the cities, it's still a small town vibe, and that you can really get to know people and things like that.
I am gonna be an art teacher, hopefully, so I really hope that I would be able to stay in Wyoming. I feel like the schools are pretty good here, and I want to be able to help out people like that.
A lot of people would like to stay, but they'll take 'em where their job takes 'em. I think I'll find a way to stay one way or another 'cause I really do love it here.
Aidan Freeman: I'm a sophomore. I'm from Thermopolis.
Miriam Harris: I'm from Douglas, Wyoming. We've been living together for a while. We're thinking about maybe moving to Colorado, probably Fort Collins. There’s cool dinner theaters and a lot of cool public art, and cool graffiti and stuff. So, just a different atmosphere would be nice to live in.
Freeman: With bigger areas, there comes more unique people and more creative people. There's a lot of creativity in Wyoming. But, like, diversity — that's what I'm talking about. There's just a huge span of different people that you can meet, and people who are interested in so many different ideas. It feels like Wyoming is very traditionalist in some ways.
Harris: It is kind of a bubble. I don't know that I have much of a fleshed out idea why, but, like, kind of, gut instinct, it feels like to go just kind of stretch your wings a little bit, just see what else is out there. Even if it means going out and seeing what there is and deciding that that's maybe not right, and then coming back.
Claire Lane: I am a senior. I'm graduating in May, but I'll be coming back for grad school in the fall. I'm from Lander, Wyoming.
I don't think I want to work here necessarily after college, but I would love to go back home and retire. Lander especially has a lot of opportunities in the outdoors. I think it's just, it's where I've lived my entire life. I'd like to try something new, maybe something coastal. We are a landlocked state, so that isn't a huge option here.
I feel like a lot of students don't see a ton of opportunities, maybe necessarily, in their fields to work here in Wyoming. We do have a super small population, so a lot of students know that they might need to go somewhere else to find a job.
Jordan Zobel: I am a junior, but I'm a transfer student, so this is my first year here. I am from Kemmerer, Wyoming.
I love mostly the western part of Wyoming. I'm hoping to become a counselor, and I think there's a lot of need for that in Wyoming. So I'm hoping that's what it's going to be like, once I get out. But if anything, I'll try to be in Idaho, but then come back over.
I love the community. Personally, I am not a big cities fan, but I like how the cities here still have that small town feel sometimes. And also, I just have family here, so I'd rather stay here. That's my main goal.
