More than a quarter of Missouri's population lives in rural areas. Many of the towns these people live in are beyond the point where our radio signal dies and are outside newspapers’ circulation areas.

‘My Life, My Town’ documents a slice of time in the lives of teenagers from small Missouri towns. These are the youth who make up the hope and future of rural life – if they decide to stay. Our hope is that getting to know the children these villages raise will provide a unique look at the day-to-day joys and struggles of rural life.

‘My Life, My Town’ is a collaboration by producers at KBIA and photographers and photo editors at the Columbia Missourian.

Bored in Lawson

Bored in Lawson – Lawson, Missouri – 2011

Produced by Katie Currid

Life in a small town for many high schoolers is a perpetual search for something to do. For those in Lawson, a rural town of less than 3,000 north of Kansas City, it’s no different. Between high school and athletic events, time is spent cruising, texting, going to Sonic and just hanging out. Between the love/hate relationship with the lack of things to do, though, is an appreciation of the connectedness and wholesomeness that comes in a small town.

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