Okay, so my college is small... 9,673 people kinda small. Most colleges have students in the 20 thousands, dorm buildings for every class year, dining halls around every corner, football teams with big stadiums, sorority row, and all that fun stuff. But there's something about our three-floor dorm building and single field that everyone plays on.
What people in these big school's don't get to experience is our family. Our small group of on-campus residents that we see every day, the cafeteria workers that know you not just by your order, but your name. The handful of athletic teams that we try to know and support like the back of our hands, even though they hate us. It's pretty freaking awesome to know almost everyone you see, every day.
Go to a school like West Virginia, ask the first person you see if they know the person walking past them. Odds are, most likely not. Maybe in an 80 person lecture hall once, or maybe in one of the 14 cafeteria's on campus.
My tiny little campus, made up of about 7 buildings in all is in a quiet little town called Dobbs Ferry. Just like all the big colleges people rave about, we have townies and that little store everyone goes to for beer. We have house parties and big campus events to pregame for, we even have this crazy day in October we call "Ferry Fest". Now I'm not gonna say a lot about Ferry Fest, but it's kind of a big deal. So our town rocks, our tiny little campus rocks (says our feet), but what rocks the most.. is the people.
Everywhere you go in college, you hopefully get the chance to meet new people. Friends, professors, coaches, business owners, etc. So at my small school, you get that chance every day. Maybe it's a new professor, or just a new worker in the cafeteria. Either way, you met an acquaintance that will soon be a familiar face and another friend. That's what the people at my school are, they're friends. Always willing to lend a hand or help with a favor.
So when deciding on a college to go to, look at the dorms, the cafeteria food, and all the nooks and crannies. But don't forget about the most important part, don't forget to look and talk to the people. People are such an important part of college, they will be your friends, teammates, professors, maybe even just the person refilling your bathroom with toilet paper.
To this day my small school doesn't amaze me, the dorms aren't the coolest, and the cafeteria food is nothing special. The parking sucks, the nightlife is pretty nonexistent, and you're called a N.A.R.P.(Non-Athletic-Regular-Person) if you don't play a sport. At the end of every school year, I promise myself I'm transferring, going somewhere bigger and better. But 3 years later I am still here, complaining about room assignments and our dry campus rule. Still paying silly room fines and getting kicked out of dorm buildings.
It's the people. I stay cause I could not imagine college with anybody else. The security guards that boot cars just so you have to talk to them, the professors that make fun of the teaching curriculum, the RA's that make living away from home a whole lot easier, and the friends that I call my family.
I couldn't imagine college anywhere else. Love my Mercy.
