Coming from a tiny high school in the woods of CT I was so excited to feel that large sense of community I thought RIC would give me. I envisioned a place where students wore their school's clothing with pride, where people would greet each other on the quad, play frisbee, read books on a blanket, and host fun well-planned events. Where professors would encourage dialogue between students, and I would meet so many new people. And the latter is true, I have had the luck of meeting more people than I probably have living in my hometown, but I missed the rest of what I had expected.

Now before you write this off as "oh she hates RIC," know that that is not the case at all. There are some things about RIC that I am not a fan of, and I'm pretty sure you all know some of the top concerns, as it seems to be something brought up by students every year, but something that has yet to change.

Yes, we all know the food here is pretty bad, that commuters are excluded, and residents feel neglected as well. That is not to say it is all bad, that no one is trying to make it better, or that no one exists that makes it tolerable.

Some of the nicest people on this campus are the Donovan workers, the grounds crew, the janitors, the technology department, and others in all different departments. These people are what make me push aside any disdain I have for a piece of RIC and make me consider, "At least we have them."

Because let's be fair, we're not paying top dollar, so do we really honestly think we can sit back and expect a perfect school? No, and if you think so keep dreaming. No one said, "Come to RIC, it's the perfect college!" Because it's not, but it also isn't price tagged as perfect.

Some of the professor's at RIC even work for high price schools in the area, I've had teachers who have worked at Brown, Salve Regina, Bryant, and URI. So you have to ask yourself, would it be so much better elsewhere? Or is it just easy to complain about RIC's downfalls rather than celebrate its successes?

Yes, RIC did not give me all I had planned for my senior year of high school, but maybe what I planned for was unrealistic; maybe my grandeur hopes were just that, grandeur.

I will be graduating this spring, a year ahead of time with my bachelor of science degree in Marketing, having the experience of being President of two student organizations, Theta Phi Alpha and The American Marketing Association. Both of these organizations were not in the "plan," but I cannot imagine my college experience without them. Without the knowledge I have learned from them, the experiences I have held, and most importantly the amazing people I have met through them.

RIC is also where I found some of my best friends through living on campus, and my boyfriend whom I met on the second day of freshman year who lived across the hall. None of that could have ever been in the "plan," but it is what has made RIC so absolutely worth any downfalls it may have for me.