As a 5th generation student at Tulane University, you can bet I’ve heard the phrase, “You can take a person out of New Orleans, but you can’t take New Orleans out of someone's soul,” a bazillion times. Before starting my freshman year, that phrase would go in one ear, and immediately go straight out the other. I thought it was just a city, like the town (St. Louis, Missouri), which I grew up in, but after spending two months there and returning home for fall break, I have never realized how wrong I could be.
Unlike St. Louis’s perfect looking charm, there is no one word that could describe New Orleans. One side of this city is a quint community, with bright color houses lining the potholed sidewalks, but take the streetcar five minutes downtown and you are in a whole different world: Bourbon Street, an experience you need to have first-hand.
There is a certain magic to New Orleans, that is unlike any city I have been to. Maybe it’s the open container law, or just that everyone always seems as though they are having the time of their life. The strong sense of community keeps the city so tight knit, despite its differences. You can't go anywhere on a Sunday, without seeing a pack of people in Saint's jerseys. No matter how good or bad the team is doing, everyone still supports. This city rubs off on the students at Tulane and together there is just overall joy.
Every time I walk through campus I have a smile beaming across my face. Even though it hasn’t been that much time, I feel as though I have found my place. I can walk from one side of campus to the other in around 10 minutes or even less, and see so many familiar faces. The comfort that comes along with these feelings is beyond inviting and I cannot picture myself anywhere except Tulane.
Already, the weeks are passing by way too fast. I almost have a mini panic attack when Thursdays come. Even though, that means it’s going to be a great night at F&M’s, it also means another week has passed by. Even though, it is just fall break, I am dying to get back to school and explore the wonderful things New Orleans has to offer with all my new friends.
It’s a gift to be able to grow up in an environment so different from a place like New Orleans, and have the ability to attend school at Tulane. The difference has opened my eyes to a more worldly view, something I feel I was in great need of.
