The first time I visited Athens, Georgia, a few months ago, I learned a lesson about sticking up for myself. This time around, my love for Columbia only continued to grow.

When I last stepped foot in the home of the "dawgs," I met people who rudely made fun of my sisters and Greek life. I was taken aback by their hostility towards a tradition they never knew, and even was inspired to write an Odyssey article about my experience. I didn’t understand how one group of people could be so outwardly expressive about their hatred of Greek life, when they 1) didn’t know many people in Greek life, and 2) had never experienced it for themselves. I don’t know about you, but I don’t usually denounce things I’ve never even tried for myself before. I’ve never eaten Indian food, but you don’t see me telling my Indian friends that I hate it; that wouldn’t make sense.   

Coming out of that disaster of a trip, I learned how to stick up for myself and not care as much about what others have to say.  I grew a thicker skin and forgave them for their rudeness. Maybe that’s why, when my friends and I decided to travel to Athens again for Labor Day weekend, I thought, “it can only be up from here.”   

While the same group of hipster boys did treat us much better and leave our sorority sayings alone, the other locals I met once again disappointed me. Many times, my friends and I were met with disrespect and insults, and the letdowns kept coming.     

First, there was brunch. I’ll be the first to admit that Russell House doesn’t have the greatest food, but at least its affordable. And by affordable, I mean not outrageously expensive. When I ate at the on-campus dining hall at UGA, it cost me $16.95 to enter the building. Sure, there were milkshakes and pasta, but I wasn’t expecting to pay that much for one brunch. What ever happened to grabbing a quick Einstein’s Bagel and heading out to the tailgates?   

Next, there was the taxi driver. After hiking up and down the hills of Athens in the search for a fraternity tailgate, my friends and I were exhausted and dehydrated. Not wanting to walk all the way back to the dorm, as my little Heather made the mistake of wearing heels, we opted to instead hail a cab. After we pulled up to Five Guys to grab food and take a well-needed AC break, the driver smugly told us it would be ten dollars a person for the ride. I truly wish you could have seen our expressions when he told us that. He drove us for maybe a mile and a half, and was expecting us to pay up forty bucks. Anna-Elyse haggled the price down to seven apiece, and we slammed the door shut as we left.   

Then, there was the library helper. After getting lost on our way back to the dorm from Five Guys, we walked into the library to ask for help. Now, I understand that I have high expectations for walking directions after working as a University Ambassador in the Visitors Center, but the rudeness of the helper in telling us where to go was amazing. After following her wrong directions to a door at the other side of the library that didn’t exist, she rolled her eyes and told us to go another way. At this point, Heather was on the verge of tears and Anna-Elyse was doing her best to keep everyone’s spirits up.   

We still weren’t able to find our way back to the dorm when Anna-Elyse plucked up the courage to ask for help from a Georgia fan. After she approached him and asked for directions, his friend looked at her and said, “You know, you shouldn’t hold your phone like that, I could’ve easily stolen it.”  …thanks? 

If nothing else, I've learned to appreciate Columbia so much more. I’m pretty confident that we don’t outrightly threaten to steal girls’ phones, our dining halls don’t actually break the bank, and our Visitor Center is more than happy to point visitors in the right direction. Oh yeah, and our football team is a heck of a lot better, as well.