College is usually the chance to branch out and experience a place different from where you grew up. Yet for some of us, we end up going to school not only in state, but practically in our own back yards. As a local attending UW, our experience is a little different from that of our out-of-state peers. Here are 12 things only local students understand.
1. UW was pretty much always the plan.
Even when you said it wasn't. What got you through high school was the thought you were going to be able to get as faraway as possible. Yet from your very first Husky football game, you were destined.
2. You have no desire to go do lame touristy things.
No matter how much your friends beg. You would rather stay on campus and attempt to do something productive then go to Pike's Place or the Space Needle. You did all of that on field trips in elementary school. You do not see the need to do it again.
3. UW gear is not bought, but passed down.
Even if your parents didn't go to UW, you have enough siblings, aunts, uncles or cousins who did to get plenty of vintage Husky wear. Basically your clothing is older than you. Who knows what went down in those shirts?
4. You've never received a care package (and probably will never).
We have mailboxes?
If your parents wanted to give you an assortment of colorful snacks, a pack of number two pencils and an inspirational note, they would have just driven it up themselves. Or better yet, they would have made you come back home to get it.
5. You're basically the expert on everything Seattle.
Walking through Downtown Seattle is a snap for you. You can quickly point out the best places to eat, shop and take the perfect Instagram worthy pictures to all your friends. You don't know what it is like to get lost in the big city, because it's your city, and to be completely honest, you kind of like being the know-it-all.
6. Bumping into HS classmates happens on the daily and neither of you know what to do.
In the most unexpected places, too. At breakfast. In the library. At a party. In your favorite Thai place on the Ave. They are everywhere. Depending on how close you decided to stay with old high school classmates if you aren't really in touch with them that moment of eye contact is incredibly stressful. Do you wave? What if they don't recognize you? It's only been six months since graduation, but still...
7. On bad days you daydream about if you had actually left the PNW.
Sometimes you think it would have been easier just to have a fresh start somewhere new. Then you realize that there really isn't such a thing as true fresh starts and that in-state tuition is just too sweet to give up.
8. You're torn between going home often or establishing your independence.
All you really need after midterms is to swaddle up in your worn duvet and stare blankly at your old One Direction posters to really re-center yourself. Then you remember that you're in college and need to start acting like an adult eventually. Maybe next quarter...
9. You never needed a map to get around campus.
You took one look at your schedule and smiled, you already knew the fastest way from Mary Gates to the ominous Health Sciences building. You've been coming to that campus since you were little and have probably been on the campus tour more times than you want to admit.
10. You can't remember the last time you did your laundry.
It's hard to get the motivation to do it when your mom is only a bus away.
11. You laugh at everyone stopping to take pictures with Mt. Rainer in the background.
Then proceed, once no one is really looking, to ask your friends to take a picture of you too.
12. To you UW is more than just a campus, it's home.
You didn't go far to seek higher education, but that is okay. Because for you, the University of Washington is more than just another school, it's been a part of your life since you were young. Making the experience that much more meaningful.
