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.

Bullets and Blow-Dryers

Sam Jarvis – Pevely, Missouri – 2015

Produced by Kayla Wolf and John Happel

Sam Jarvis has spent her entire life living on her family’s rural farm in the small town of Pevely, Missouri. She enjoys the peacefulness of her home, but yearns for an urban lifestyle. As a model student and athlete, she has felt pressure from those close to her to attend college. Instead she plans to follow her long-time passion for cosmetology—an interest she shares with her mother.

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