Editor’s note: As part of a series about students from small towns and rural areas, we spoke to Joey Driscoll ’26 from Woodstock, NY about her experience at Swarthmore and the lessons she carries with her from her upbringing. Some responses have been edited for brevity or clarity.

I’m from upstate New York—more specifically, Woodstock (yes, like the concert). Fun fact: the 1969 Woodstock Festival actually happened in Bethel, NY, which is almost 60 miles away from Woodstock, but we still get all the tourists. The census says we have about 5,000 people, but a lot of those people are either weekenders who live in NYC or city people who have moved here since COVID. Woodstock is small and artsy—we have a bunch of quirky art and music venues and more than our fair share of overpriced cafés. Unfortunately, COVID really exacerbated the gentrification of our town, and lots of locals are being displaced by richer urban families. The hippie artists can’t afford to live in Woodstock anymore, and so what used to be an artsy, tight-knit community is slowly changing into your generic upstate-New-York-escape-to-the-Catskills tourist town.

I went to Onteora High School, a rural public high school in Boiceville, NY, a couple of towns over. Our district covers 300 square miles and 6 townships (17 towns), and my graduating class had 90 students in it. We’re a really small district that serves a lot of low-income families. That said, we have some really incredible and dedicated teachers there that are a lot of the reason why I am here today. My three younger brothers are still going to school there, and two of our three elementary schools (including the one I went to) are currently in the process of being closed due to not having enough students to justify keeping them open. Next year, my district will be one K-5 building and one 6-12 building, both on the same plot of land. That’s going to school in the same place with the same 90 people for 13 years—yikes.

How did you learn about Swarthmore? Why did you choose Swarthmore?

I heard about Swarthmore from some students a year older than me who applied but were either rejected or waitlisted. As soon as I started looking into it, I fell in love—the campus is gorgeous, the academics are rigorous and prestigious, and the community is tight-knit, just like at home. I applied Early Decision and was deferred, but got accepted in Regular Decision. Amazingly, I think I am the first student from my district to ever get accepted to Swarthmore.

I ended up having to make a decision between Swarthmore and Columbia. They both offered me the same amount of financial aid, and I pretended to consider Columbia for a few weeks before conceding to myself that Swarthmore was the perfect place for me. Swarthmore seemed to strike the perfect balance on everything: not too rural, but not too urban; rigorous, but not competitive; small and tight-knit, but much larger than where I was coming from. I attended Swatstruck, and by the time I left, I knew that I simply couldn’t not go here. I committed in the car on the way home.

What was your application process like? Who helped you and what resources were (or were not) available to you? Did your school have a college counselor?

I’m the oldest of four, so applying to college was my job to figure out and pass down to my siblings. We had guidance counselors in school, but not college counselors. Thankfully, a couple of my teachers helped me read through and improve my college essays and gave me tips on what colleges might be looking for (huge shoutout to you, Ms. Loheide). That said, I had to learn how to fill out my financial aid forms on my own. 

It was tough getting started, since I didn’t really know what I was doing—I didn’t start looking at colleges until the fall of my senior year. My first Swarthmore essay was rough. Reading it back, it is very clearly the first college essay I wrote, and I’m honestly surprised they deferred me instead of rejecting me (thank you holistic application process!). As I kept writing, my essays got stronger and stronger, and my teachers took time out of their own busy lives to read them and help me revise. So while I didn’t have a college counselor, there were certainly adults in my life whose love and dedication I don’t think I would’ve gotten here without.

What has it been like coming from a smaller community to Swarthmore?

It was a little bit of a shock—Swarthmore is the most urban place I’ve ever lived. I quickly realized, though, that the Swarthmore community is tight-knit. I’ve been able to develop close and personal connections with many of my professors, just like I did with my teachers from my rural public high school. Everyone here has so many great connections, job opportunities, and activities to offer that I never had access to in my hometown.

There is so much opportunity at Swarthmore that I think that people from more urban areas may not even recognize, both in the area (there is Uber here!) and at the College itself (tons of on-campus jobs, funding opportunities, and avenues). I was able to take free private music lessons through Swarthmore, which is something I could never do at home because the nearest private teacher was a 50-minute drive away.

Why do you feel it’s important that Swarthmore admits more students from rural areas and small towns?

I think that it’s easy, when looking for ways to diversify a student body, to let rural students fall on the back burner. I was shocked to learn that only 7% of my class comes from rural public high schools. 

Living in a rural or small town is, in many cases, a huge indicator of social class. Rural students come from a unique background of intimate communities that persist despite limited resources. Recruiting (and admitting) students from these areas would be a great way to expand class diversity at Swat, which, although it is impressive compared to other institutions, is still pretty wealthy. Even as a student who is pretty well-off in my hometown, I am dirt poor at Swarthmore, which was a bit shocking for me coming in. 

It is so important to make college accessible to poor students in rural areas (especially students of color from rural areas)—I come from a place where financial aid is often the determiner of whether someone will go to college or stay home and enter the workforce. So, don’t just admit more students from rural areas and small towns, also give them the aid they need to afford to come here!

How does Swarthmore support you as a student?

Academic and personal supports are a lot of the reason why I chose Swarthmore. In my tiny high school, I was able to have really close relationships with many of my teachers; even though Swarthmore is definitely larger than my high school was, I’ve been able to find the same thing here. The professors here want you to succeed and are constantly doing the most to help you out. I’m working on two research projects in the Linguistics Department right now, one of which started when one of my professors reached out to me personally to ask if I wanted to do a project with them. 

This is all to say that the professors here are super approachable and kind, and the culture here is one built on collaboration instead of competition. We don’t have class rank or GPA, and you don’t even get grades on your transcript your first semester. This semester, one of my professors didn’t let us leave on the first day until we got the contact information of three other students in our class so that we could work together on our homework. I really value the small community here and how I am able to create close relationships with my professors.

What are you involved in outside of classes?

I play violin in the Swarthmore College Orchestra, Fetter Chamber Music Ensemble, and Lab Orchestra. I work as a campus tour guide and a Writing Associate. I am a member of ASL (American Sign Language) and Sewing, Upcycling, Crocheting, and Knitting clubs. I am also currently working on research projects with two linguistics professors.

Where do you see yourself after Swarthmore? Do you see yourself going back home or do you see yourself going somewhere rural, urban, or in between?

I don’t think I want to live in Woodstock as an adult—though it has served me well growing up, I would love to be somewhere a bit more urban than where I live now. That said, I don’t think I could live in a city, at least not one like NYC or Philadelphia. I really like Swat’s location, actually, and I’d like to live somewhere suburban like this: enough access to resources, close to a city, but not in one, and still tons and tons of grass and trees. But, who knows…we’ll see what my teacher salary can do for me.

What is one or a couple things you wish your Swarthmore friends could know about being from a rural area?

• I wish my Swarthmore friends could know what it’s like to make a new friend at school and plan a playdate, only to find out that they live on the other side of the district, which is a 50-minute drive each way, and no one’s parents want to drive, so that friend just has to stay an in-school friend. (Getting my driver’s license and a car was the best thing that ever happened to me.)
• I (5’2″) have probably scared away more bears than my Swarthmore friends have seen in their lives.
• Also, what is Costco?