Not long ago, I came across an article on my Facebook timeline. An article concerning the recent decision made by the University System of Georgia to merge Georgia Southern University and Armstrong State University. This merger is set to take place in about 18 months, which means that by Fall 2018 Armstrong State University will take on the name Georgia Southern University. This article, titled 100 Things I'd Rather Do Than Go To Georgia Southern University, is written by an angry ASU student and honestly... It takes things a little out of proportion.
As a senior at Georgia Southern University, I am an Eagle - a true blue through and through Eagle. That being said, I love my University. I love my campus. I love my fellow Eagles. I love everything about this place. So, when someone takes the initiative to strike out at the place, the people, that I love... it's really hard to keep quiet.
Don't get me wrong, I'm sure I speak for most of us when I say that when we heard about the merger, we were surprised as well. We were pretty thrown off at the idea of our university expanding - who could imagine Georgia Southern without Statesboro, right? When the merger was approved, we were even more shocked at the idea that we are preparing to share our culture, our history, our traditions with outsiders.
Still, though - we didn't do this. Georgia Southern as a whole shouldn't be insulted just because ASU students aren't happy with a decision made without their consult.
So, instead of going through "100 Things I'd Rather Do Than Go To Armstrong State University" (even I'm not that immature), I'll simply say that with that attitude - you don't deserve to be an Eagle.
You don't deserve to be an Eagle because being an Eagle is so much more than being a student at Georgia Southern University.
Being an Eagle is leaning on one another.
Tragedy after tragedy, we have learned to lean on one another. In the three years I've been here, we have experienced great loss. We have lost fellow Eagles and found peace in only knowing that they fly above watching over us. We come together as a whole. We grieve together. We celebrate together. We grow together.
Being an Eagle is representing generations of history.
What is now Georgia Southern University opened its doors in 1906 as an agricultural and homemaking college with four faculty members and fifteen students. Our football team started out traveling on county school buses with jugs of water from the Beautiful Eagle Creek, in raggedy uniforms with a coach who believed in something more. Over 100 years later, Georgia Southern University is home to over 20,000 students, 2,000 faculty members, and more than 100 degrees with both graduate and undergraduate programs. Our mighty Eagles are now a part of the Sunbelt Conference with six NCAA National Championships, and a win at the GoDaddy Bowl in 2015. We believe in history, we believe in our past, and we believe in our future.
Being an Eagle is screaming GATA on game days.
Football in Paulson Stadium is something that can't be put into words. The smell of the fresh paint on the field. Watching the Eagles run through the tunnel. Singing along to Southern Pride as they play the fight song. Georgia Southern football is unlike anything else I've ever experienced, it's passionate, it's beautiful, it's spirited.
Being an Eagle is flaunting what makes you an individual.
We are all different, and we accept that. Georgia Southern is an incredibly diverse university. There is a club for everyone, and people here are encouraged to be themselves. We aren't ashamed of who we are, and that is what ties us together.
Being an Eagle is knowing how to work hard, and play hard.
People often call Georgia Southern a "party school", it's true. That's not who we are, though. We bust our butts Monday-Thursday, then our weekends begin. We pull all-nighters in ol' Hendy, and then we go out for margs at El Jap after our finals. We study all day on Wednesdays, then go sing our stresses away at Gnats. We live on Starbucks, Zach's Brew, and CFA, and the midnight breakfast during finals week is the one reason to check out Landrum at least once a semester. We work twice as hard as we play, and that's why we know how to have fun.
Being an Eagle is so much more than what you deserve.
So, next time, before you decide to throw blame - remember that we didn't ask for this. Students at Georgia Southern University were just as blindsided as you were, and we are learning to cope with having to share what is ours with people who don't even want it. Remember that what we have is just as special to us as Armstrong State University is to you.
For the sake of ASU, I hope that the history of the university is upheld. I hope that they take initiative to preserve what you have loved, what you chose to be a part of.
That being said, get over it. Move on with your life. If a decision was made without your opinions in mind, it sucks - but whining about it isn't going to change anything. It's time to lose the dramatics, cut out the trash talk, and realize that this is going to happen - or you can just transfer because one thing for sure... you don't deserve to be an Eagle.
Georgia Southern University may be evil to you, it may be the villain in your story - but it is the hero in so many of ours.
This is our home, and we will forever stand beside it.
Hail Southern. GATA. One More Time.
P.S. Here at Southern, we count in order - we don't just skip around. (Yes, we all saw that you were missing numbers 51, & 71-79 at first.)
