There really is nothing like living on Rocky Top. There's excitement in the air (with a little bit of anxiety) as Game Day approaches, tailgating every Saturday, and orange everywhere you turn. Going to an SEC school was one of the best decisions I've ever made. No matter who you are or where you come from, the phrase "Vols help Vols" rings true. However, if you're an out-of-state student from "The North," then you're lucky if your peers understand what the hell you're saying if they ever get over your accent. At this point, I might as well come from another country. So I pulled some scenarios and GIFs together and basically, this is what it's like to be a Long Islander at the University of Tennessee.
1. When people find out you're from New York and ask you to say a bunch of words for them like "coffee" or "straw."
Wait, what? You have the accent.. Not me.
2. When you can't find a good bagel ANYWHERE.
Einstein Brothers is NOT a New York bagel.
3. When people think you're weird for talking about pro sports instead of college sports.
Wait, you don't care about the World Series or the Super Bowl? What's the Neyland Effect? Sorry, we only have D2 and D3 schools around here. Does it count if I've watched the Vols on ESPN that one time?
4. When nobody understands your struggle just to get home for the holidays.
Plane ticket for Thanksgiving: $598. Driving home for 14 hours straight: priceless.
5. When everyone in your classes already knows each other because they all went to high school together.
"What's Mefam?" "No, MEPHAM. M-E-P-H-A-M."
6. When people say weird lingo that you can't understand so you have always have to ask them to clarify.
Y'all, tennis shoes, buggy, shacker, Yankee, etc.
7. When you have to tell people that Appalachian State was your first college football game.
And what a terrible first game to go to... ***Where even is App State?***
8. When you call it "Jungle Juice" instead of "Hunch Punch" at a frat party.
"If you know what's good for you, don't drink this frat's hunch punch."
9. When people find out you're Jewish.
"You know, you're the first Jew I've ever seen!" "So does your dad, like, have those curly-hair-things on the side of his face?"
10. When you tell people you're from New York and they say: "OH! I went to Times Square that one time when I was 3!"
Times Square is genuinely the grimiest, most disgusting part of the entire city. If you really want to feel cultured, tell us you love SoHo or Greenwich Village or ANYTHING other than Midtown. But wow great for you for involuntarily being a tourist when you were too young to remember.
11. When nobody understands your pain when you have an emotional breakdown over missing the beach.
You have no idea what it's like to go lay in the sun, play in the ocean, sit in the sand, and sport the most beautiful tan every single day of summer to suddenly hear, "Well we have the Tennessee River, but it's kind of dirty and nobody swims in it..."
All in all, it has definitely been an interesting experience to be a Long Islander at an SEC school in Tennessee. However, it has also been the best experience. I love my school more than anything in the whole world, and I wouldn't change my decision if I had the chance. I never realized how amazing life is until I was able to call two places home: Long Island and Knoxville. Going to UT has given me countless opportunities, so many new friends, and definitely expanded my horizons. Go Vols (but Go Yankees, too).
