People would ask, "Where do you go to college? ISU? Oh, is that the private school down there? University of Evansville?" Nope. Wrong. "USI people, University of Southern Indiana." The University of Southern Indiana. My alma mater. For four years, I called Evansville home. As classes start this week, I'm reflecting on the top 5 best things USI had to offer.
1. The C-Store.
The C-Store. I spent endless amounts of my meal plan money at the C-Store. The infamous late-night runs for pizza, mozzarella sticks, and milkshakes contributed to my "Freshman 15" (and plus some). The C-Store is where students went to overspend on milk ($7), cereal ($10), and any other essentials. I remember running there in the early mornings for snack foods and Gatorade after a night of drinking with my roommates (sorry, mom and our RA). Hours of studying warranted the convenient foods at our finger tips at the C-Store. I still dream about you C-Store mozzarella sticks.
2. The dorms
When my parents were moving me into my freshman dorm (Ruston Hall, room 107, hey!), they kept saying, "Our dorms looked nothing like this when I was in college. This is like a hotel. Our rooms were just two beds, two desks and concrete walls." No lie, our dorms were sweet. We only had to share our bathroom with our roommate, and a common room, separating the two rooms, that came equipped with its own couch, chair, and mini fridge?! I'll take it! The floor I was on had its own computer lab we could use at all hours of day. I spent hours upon hours studying, gossiping, singing, dancing, and eating in that computer lab. I'd like to take a moment to thank that computer lab for helping me get into the nursing program.
3. The Living Learning Communities
Expanding on #2, Ruston Hall was one of the two dormitories designated as Living Learning Communities. I lived in the Health Professions LLC which consisted of people majoring in the same college as us. I literally met my best friends through the LLC. They understood the stress of being a health professions major. No one knows what it's like to study throughout the wee hours of night for an anatomy test at 8 a.m., crying over chemistry quizzes, and being frustrated that you had to take an art class that you felt "didn't contribute to your major" (which by the way freshmen, it really does help).
4. Thursday/Saturday Movie Nights: Cinema USI
I'm a movie fanatic and going to the movies on a college budget is near impossible. Well thanks to an awesome group on campus called APB (Activities Programming Board) for putting together Thursday/Saturday Movie Nights every single week. They didn't show movies people didn't want to see or that had been out for months - oh no, they showed new movies that were just about to be released. I saved a fortune on seeing movies this way. Plus, free popcorn and soda? Score.
5. The Friendships
I moved to Evansville not knowing a single soul. I barely knew where Evansville was before I even applied to USI. As I stated, I lived in an LLC my freshman year and that was the best decision I made; I met the best people. I can firmly attest that I have made life-long friendships that I wouldn't trade for the world (hey, Michelle, Megan and Sierra & the rest of Ruston Hall, floor 1!). As I progressed throughout my years in college, I was in the nursing program. I took classes with 100 other people from 8 a.m. until 5 p.m., and then 12-hour clinical days twice a week, as well. Like it or not, you are practically forced to become friends with these people. Ultimately, these people become like family to you. (Shout out to the BSN graduating class of 2016! Miss you all!).
These are the best things I have to share about USI. Did I miss anything?! Comment below!
