Commentator Jesse Ybarra lives in Altamont, Kansas, just across the border from Oklahoma. In his 24 years as a high school teacher and coach in the small farming community, Ybarra has seen most of the kids who go to college from his area stay close to home.
But his eldest sons have ventured far from home -- to Massachusetts, to California -- to study. Ybarra says it's uncertain if they will be like former classmates, who often return to work in factories and banks, or on family farms and ranches.
Of the difficulties imposed by the distance, Ybarra says, "I don't mind admitting that my wife and I usually shed some tears on the way home after taking our sons to the airport." But he and his wife, Peggy, are bolstered by knowing their sons are pursuing their dreams -- and that some day they'll be back.
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