An Open Letter to the New York Times

I don’t have time for your BS critique of my community.?

Yes, I’m talking to YOU, New York Times.?

I don’t have time for your incessant criticism about St. Cloud, Minnesota, USA.?

You’re as bad as gossiping bullies in a high school bathroom. How easy it must be for you to spin your gasp-worthy stories about a small, “backwards” city like St. Cloud. How easy to point to our community to exemplify what’s wrong with America.?

But let me offer an alternative perspective. One of a transplant who has lived in this city for over a decade. St. Cloud is a kickass place to live, to raise a family, and to start a business. I don’t accept your negative narrative about my home. You don’t get to tell me how to feel, a thousand miles removed from the situation.?

I sit snugly between the Millennial and Gen Z generations, and can point to the seismic shift in behavior and desire for my peers. As each year passes, we become further sucked into the abyss of social media and online culture. For the entirety of our lives, we’ve faced diminishing opportunities to develop deep and meaningful relationships with the people who surround us. We don’t talk to our neighbors. We drown out every potential unplanned interaction with earbuds and a steadfast gaze on our screens. There’s an epidemic of loneliness that is slowly, but surely, swallowing the young people in our country. And, importantly, we were on this trajectory even before the pandemic. Suicide rates increased by 35% from 1999 - 2018 (CDC). Anxiety increased in young people ages 18-25 by over 6.5% from 2008 - 2018 (National Library of Medicine). Depression increased in teens by 5% from 2007 - 2017 (PEW). Enter the pandemic, and our personal and professional situations have become even more touchless, emotionless, and devoid of relationship. Wake up. Log in. Scroll, scroll, scroll. Sleep. Repeat.?

What do we see as a result? An extraordinarily transient population. According to a 2022 Gallup study, 55% of Millennials are not engaged at work. They’re indifferent to their career and their employer. Gallup also uncovered that 60% of Millennials are actively looking for a new career at any given time. Faced with an unbelievable pressure to live an idyllic life, as perpetuated by our favorite social media influencers. Constantly dissatisfied with our jobs, our love life, our financial situation, and our future trajectory.? Wake up. Log in. Scroll, scroll, scroll. Sleep. Repeat.?

But there are the pockets of engaged young people who are actively breaking out of this droll existence. People who actually give a shit about their community. People who are building, moving, changing. I’ll just share a few examples of such groups in St. Cloud.?

• Saint Cloud Rotaract is a group focused on providing emerging leaders with opportunities to grow professional and leadership skills, while also volunteering for worthwhile causes. Since 2015, Saint Cloud Rotaract has connected dozens of Millennials and Gen Z over meaningful opportunities to contribute to a better community.?
• The Jugaad Leadership Program has engaged dozens of emerging leaders since 2015. This 7-month leadership program is designed to provide people of color and other underrepresented community members with the knowledge, skills and resources to become effective leaders at the grassroots level.
• ILT Academy offers free programming and resources to aspirational startup founders. ILT Academy partners with community and economic leaders to teach and train underestimated innovators and entrepreneurs the skill sets needed to develop successful ventures.
• Granite Table is a collaboration between 20+ steering committee members representing various for-profit and non-profit sectors. The group is working to create a lasting mechanism for ongoing, systemic change in Central Minnesota.?

These are just a few of MANY innovative, young groups in St. Cloud actively working to create a thriving place to call home. But what’s the key to a thriving community? I would argue that it comes down to the relationships we hold.?

Here’s the thing: This “backwards” American city has something your major metropolis does not. Within the parameters of our city we have the unbridled ability to know. Know our neighbors. Know our peers. Know when things are happening. Know about new and exciting projects perpetuated by passionate people. Know about the meaningful work that has elevated our community for decades. We know when to show up, and where. We know how to make shit happen, and how to lift up those that surround us. You might have every fast food chain known to mankind on your block, but we know the people who run the restaurants in our neighborhoods. You might have endless entertainment options, but we know the people on stage. In a world that’s become increasingly disconnected, we are working towards a community woven together by passion and action. Last year I helped build a list of the various community-centric organizations in St. Cloud in an effort to better map our collective resources. In a list of over 150 organizations, I either personally knew someone in each organization or was just one degree away. THAT is the power of a small community.?

Does the Greater St. Cloud community have some things to work on? Yes. Of course. What community doesn’t? But the important thing to note is that we are working on them. Across political lines. Across diverse perspectives. I’d rather live in a place that acknowledges and actively works on underlying challenges than a place that somehow believes it's exempt of all flaws.?

Above all else, I’d rather live in a community where I can know and be known. So while the rest of the world sinks further into the abyss, St. Cloud will be over here killing it. ;)

?- Clare?