”Solar eclipses aren’t that rare,” said Michael Briley, head of the Appalachian State Department of Physics and Astronomy. “What’s rare about them is that they only affect such a small part of the Earth. You look at the moon’s shadow passing over the Earth and the odds of being in the right place at the right time to be in that shadow is the exciting part.

The first total solar eclipse since 1918 is happening on Monday, August 21, and people across the country are gearing up to view the astronomical event. But how much you see depends greatly on where you are. The best place to be? Along the path of totality. That’s where for a period of time the complete light of the sun will be blocked out, and the sky will go dark.

Dubbed “Affrilachians” by one academic, black residents of these mountain towns say they've been overlooked in the growing focus on rural, working-class Americans.

Coming from a small town in Maryland, and attending college in an even smaller town in North Carolina, I never imagined I would end up in our Nation’s capital working with my role model, Ivanka Trump.

Williams flourished quickly and found employment initially in 2010 with Germain Racing in the NASCAR Truck Series before joining Jack Roush Racing in 2012 for both the Cup series and the Xfinity series. Williams accepted his current position with Ganassi as a crewmember for driver Jamie McMurray’s car.