JD Vance’s Appalachian story is familiar and inspirational to many Kentuckians | Opinion

On the third night of the Republican National Convention, Senator JD Vance (R-OH) formally accepted the Vice Presidential nomination for his party. Within his address to the convention in Milwaukee and throughout the course of his 2016 memoir “Hillbilly Elegy,” the harsh reality of his upbringing was commonly discussed.

Vance was primarily raised in Middletown, OH. However, Vance’s family originated from Breathitt County. Vance experienced an extensive amount of hardship throughout the early years of his life. His mother, who struggled financially to provide for Vance and his family, would later become dangerously addicted to drugs while also struggling mentally. His grandmother later took Vance in and raised him throughout his teenage years, as he credits her for being the first figure in his life to instill the values of hard work and dedication into him.

Vance was able to capitalize off this by joining the Marines and serving in Iraq, graduating from Ohio State University and Yale Law School, becoming a successful writer and legal figure, and serving in the United States Senate. He often attributes these values to the core of his Appalachian roots.

In similarity, I also had an Appalachian background but was raised largely outside of it, and experienced a multitude of struggles that tore my family and my own life apart. I was born and lived the first few years of my life in Pike County. I lived with both of my parents in our first family home until I was almost six years old when a flash flood destroyed our home with the vast majority of our belongings lost inside it.

However, my life would be met with more instability after that, as my parents would go through a divorce less than two years later. I moved out to Lexington in the aftermath of that with my mother, where I lived for the next 10 years. However, my mom went through certain struggles of her own, and spending my life back and forth between my father’s side of the family in Pike County and my mother’s side in Lexington was certainly not ideal.

As my senior year of high school came to a close, I had my father make a last-minute deposit to Morehead State University and made the decision to move back to Pike County full-time with him, my stepmother, and stepsister. In spite of that, my family and I became concerned about what my future would look like because so much of it seemed uncertain.

Two years later, my life has entirely shifted. I have spent two years at Morehead State majoring in political science, and I am on track to get my bachelor’s degree after two more semesters of study. Alongside that, I have been able to work on and submit an individual academic paper, and I have presented my work at political science conferences across the country. I have also worked towards making contacts and working towards the promotion of my values, as I was a field organizer for the Republican Party during the previous year’s election cycle in Kentucky. I have also been active within multiple political organizations on campus and have traveled to many places across the country for those organizations’ activities. I have used these opportunities to meet countless individuals and have experiences I would have never thought possible.

There are many individuals and families all across this country that can relate to Vance’s story. My experience is only one of millions. However, the relatability of these concepts makes it that much more important to have someone on the ticket who understands them well. I fully trust that Vance, if elected to the Vice Presidency as Trump’s running mate, will turn his firsthand experiences and perspectives into political advocacy as he serves alongside the administration. This is the exact reason why Trump’s selection of JD Vance is not only a sensible decision, but a vital decision that will be both politically and personally influential to many, especially in Kentucky.

Canaan Thacker is a current student and political science major at Morehead State University.

This story was originally published July 23, 2024 at 10:08 AM.