After coming back to Denison from a winter break spent at home where I hung out with friends from other colleges, I formulated a few questions about my lovely university.
1. Why are our meal plans given such strange names? I am literally one word away from being on a completely different meal plan! (This is actually a callout post at West Loop and West College).
2. How many more popcorn bags and/or Easy Mac cups have to burn and cause the fire alarm to go off before we learn our lesson?
3. Why are there so many pizza options both on AND off campus? Like, do you realize that I can choose between flatbread pizza at The Nest, the pizza in Curtis and Huffman, the Bandersnatch pizza bagels, Elm's pizza, and of course, Papa Johns. I'm not saying this is a bad thing, I'm just pointing it out.
4. Why is D-Day called D-Day? I mean, I get it, Denison Day. Got that. Maybe the committee that thought of the name just finished watching Saving Private Ryan and were like "Yeah, D-Day! Makes sense! We are Denison University, after all." Not that I have a better name, though.
5. How are students able to form lines in Slayter during lunch and dinner hours? Every day I am continually impressed by the lines that form around every crevice of our lovely little Slayter union. It's ultimately the game of Snake, making sure we form long yet manageable lines without running into each other.
6. Why does Denison attract so many deer? Is it a mid-Ohio thing? Is it an ecosystem thing? Is it because Denison rhymes with venison? These are the questions that keep me up at night.
7. What does Big Red mean? Regardless, I'll still be yelling 'Go Big Red!' and smile like a kid who just saw his or her name on a keychain whenever I see Big Red gum.
8. Why was Denison built on a hill? Great for views, not great for my out of shape self.
9. What happened to the strawberry flavored milkshakes at the Bandersnatch? Maybe the budget got the best of my favorite fruity flavor. I'm not totally sure who else misses this, but I guess I just have a passion for strawberry milkshakes.
10. Why do buzzards like to hang out on campus? I feel that eventually they will come for me in an Alfred Hitchcock's The Birds kind of style. Follow up question: Is that why those birds have been deemed our unofficial mascot?
11. Is the top floor of the library actually haunted? I need to know. Perhaps being spooked by a ghost will be just the push I need to finish writing that paper, reading that chapter, or studying for that final.
12. How do we manage be consistently amazing enough each year that we're featured in some prominent magazine's list (Money, Fortune, Forbes, etc.) regarding top colleges?
Despite the questions I have for my school, I can tell you with 100% certainty that I am proud to attend Denison University and what it has done for me. Go Big Red!
