First-world problems pretty much describe the struggles that High Point University students go through almost every day. Most students don't have to worry about these, but when your school is as extraordinary and giving as HPU, the struggle the students go through have to match the school. You wouldn't have to worry about getting into 1924 Prime at UNC Chapel Hill or Duke. But here at HPU, that is what most freshman learn within the first week. But there are more struggles that the whole school goes through and the endeavors only get more "first world" as time goes on.
1. Water Fountains
Now there is nothing wrong with the 10+ fountains on campus, but let's just talk about the big three; the Slane Fountains. If it is a hot day, the tsunami of mist feels extremely good... but this is North Carolina! It can go from 90 degrees one day to65 degrees the next. Freezing mist hitting you from all sides when the wind blows is not what you want to feel in the middle of winter
2. Parking
Parking is hard enough in the world, but HPU takes the cake of terrible parking. If you are lucky enough to get a spot relatively close to where you need to be, count yourself lucky and do not give that space up under any circumstance! But for the unlucky ones, you might as well come to campus 45 minutes before you need to be anywhere because you will spend 30 of those minutes trying to find a parking spot.
3. Ice Cream Truck
Every Friday afternoon, there is an ice cream truck that drives around campus giving away free ice cream. Unfortunately, there is only so much ice cream that can go around for everyone and you may not be so fortunate to even catch the truck on its route. So if you miss it, you will be better prepared next Friday…good luck.
4. Post Office
Long lines…that is all I have to say. The Post Office has outrageously long lines. There have been days where it has almost been out the door. Just make sure that you get there early enough, because if not, you may as well wait till the next day.
5. Magic Meals
Food. Every college student's kryptonite. But here at HPU, you get Chick-Fil-A, Subway, Starbucks, a sports bar, and many more. But how to pay for the meal is a never-ending maze itself. “How many magic meals can I have? How many do I have left? What’s the difference between a magic meal and a swipe?” Even as a sophomore, I still have struggles trying to figure the system out.6. The Bubble
Oh, The Bubble. The nickname for HPU's bright-and-shining campus. The safety bubble, the weather protection, or whatever "bubble" you want to call it. The bubble can be of good use when the weather is good but once the bubble bursts, to quote President Qubein, “Garbage In, Garbage Stays”. But the safety of the bubble can be described as “grass is greener on the other side” and the bubble is the other side.
7. Study Space
Finding a descent, quite study space isn't hard, but the problem is making sure it's close to where you need to be. It is better to find a study space in Cottrell when you live in Centennial, but you may have to walk all the way to Smith Library to get a spot because of the limited seating.
8. The Walk
Speaking of the walk, walking from Belk to School of Education is about 15 minutes and it can feel like an eternity. But pretty much any walk that involves multiple stairs or a walk that spans more than 10 minutes is way too much for any HPU student to handle.
9. Panther Plague
Imagine the worst flu symptoms you can possibly think of and multiply that by five: that is the Panther Plague. Everyone is expected to get the plague because of how close everyone lives together and you tend to be contagious before you get the symptoms, so you don’t know that you are sick when you spread the plague around. It lasts around four or five days and they will be the death of you. Don't worry, you'll make it. But just wait a year and you’ll get it again.
10. Dressing to the nines
There are some people at HPU who dress normally and make sure they are comfortable such as a t-shirt and jeans with a pair of flats. But then, you have those special few that dress to the nine in dresses, nice shirts, loafers, or vests. The dressier of the student will make those that dress comfortably feel really out of place and dressed down for a 7:50 class. But just know that it doesn’t matter what you wear or what others wear as long as you’re comfortable.
Overall, most of these problems are extremely petty and aren't that bad when put into context. But when looking at everything that High Point gives us, we have to find the little things to complain about because there really anything wrong with the school. So thinking that long walks and not enough ice cream is the worst of the worst means that HPU is the best of the best.
