Moving Away in 'Reloville': Unl, Nebraska Prominent in Book

Lincoln Journal Star

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln and several Nebraska towns take the spotlight in the new book "Next Stop, Reloville: Life Inside America's New Rootless Professional Class."

Author Peter T. Kilborn, longtime writer for The New York Times, takes on the subject of Relos, America's growing number of professionals who continually relocate for their careers.

Relos, Kilborn says,"constitute a new social class, well-off but insecure, well-traveled but insular."

The book's final chapter tracks a handful of UNL graduates and their experiences in Relo culture. Two-thirds of UNL graduates get jobs with Nebraska employers, Kilborn says. But what of the remaining third?

Kilborn focuses on three grads, two of whom embraced the Relo status and one who feared it.

There's Kimberly Ryland, a Stapleton native who graduated from UNL with degrees in mechanical and biological engineering. Ryland ended up moving to San Jose, Calif., where she found a job she loved but a culture profoundly different from the one she knew.

And Jennifer Schultz, a Portland, Ore., native who came to UNL on a bowling scholarship. After graduation, Schultz took an always-on- the-go job with Union Pacific Railroad, a gig she loved but a situation her boyfriend (now ex) couldn't adjust to.

And Jesse Whidden, a brilliant St. Edward native who was accepted (and even offered scholarships) to Harvard, Yale and MIT but chose UNL because it was closer to his family.

Kilborn's a good storyteller, and these accounts of Nebraskans trying to leave behind all they know will be heartachingly familiar to any Midwesterner.

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