Every school, college, and university is unique in its approach to education and in terms of what it can offer to students who study in its hallowed halls, from that elementary school in your hometown which was praised for its Montessori methods, to Constance Billard School for Girls where Blair and Serena epitomized its exclusive and yuppie ways. To understand the manner in which Brown is a university unto itself, consider looking at it as the following television/novel characters rolled into one.
1. Lorelai Gilmore: Coffee addict/rebel.
Sure, college life in general is typified by cups and cups of coffee, and Brown is no exception by any means. With demanding classes, an overabundance of compelling extracurricular opportunities and countless lectures and events coffee is inevitably going to be what keeps you going. Lorelai Gilmore’s need for coffee, which she likens to a life sustaining concoction when she remarks that she likes coffee “only with my oxygen,” will be rivaled by the lines at the Thayer Street Starbucks. Brown also encompasses Lorelai’s rebellious nature in its laidback curriculum. Lorelai defies her parents’ structured upbringing, often distressing them with her unconventional parenting methods and her notably sarcastic and dry wit. Brown bucks the system, resisting the status quo of the Iies and many other institutions by offering an “open curriculum” and requiring very few core classes.
2. George Costanza: Job shopper.
Jerry has a virtually stable profession as a stand-up comedian, Elaine worked at Pendant Publishing before meeting J. Peterman, and Kramer manages to scrape by through various odd jobs. In college, you are often forced to select courses and stick to them without truly knowing their worth before stepping into the classroom on the first day of class. But just as George skips from career to career, one day acting as a hand model and the next parking cars to earn a wage, Brown encourages students to “shop” classes. For the first two weeks of each semester, students can try their “hands” at any course before finalizing their schedules.
3. Samantha Jones: Pass/fail dater.
Although it may seem odd to compare a top-notch university to a promiscuous character from "Sex and the City," Brown’s satisfactory/no credit grading option is akin to Sam’s perspective on relationships. She prefers not to put a huge energy into a real relationship. Too much work, too much sacrifice, too little return. She is willing to settle for less complicated personal encounters, getting what she wants with little effort. While getting a passing grade at Brown certainly requires considerable work, the pass/fail route allows you to put one possibly less significant course on the back burner and focus on your other classes, or to allow yourself to be challenged by a very tough class without the stress of absorbing every detail. In other words, like Samantha, you need not dive into a full-fledged “relationship” with a satisfactory/no credit course.
4. Atticus Finch: Diversity man.
Although a somewhat different personality was revealed in Harper Lee’s, "Go Set a Watchman," your favorite 1930s lawyer from "To Kill a Mockingbird" is the essence of what Brown strives for in character. His attitude is all accepting of people and their differences. He takes on Tom Robinson’s case with passion, understands Bob Ewell’s loss of pride, and justifies Boo Radley’s seclusion. Brown, similarly, is somewhere where people of all backgrounds should feel welcome academically and socially, boasting students from all over the globe and interests from the art of letter writing to ballroom dancing.
5. Brick Heck: Eccentric archetype.
The youngest child in ABC’s “The Middle,” Brick, is a fine representative of the genuine and somewhat quirky student body at Brown. Brick repeats the final word of sentences under his breath, carries ketchup packets in his pockets as a pseudo security blanket, speaks with a Scottish accent on occasion, and has few friends with the exception of his own backpack. Perhaps not nearly as odd, there are, however, many wonderfully interesting people at Brown. The admissions officers at Brown should be credited for not simply seeking the top academic achievers from high schools across the globe, but for focusing instead upon building a community of real, vibrant, creative people.
