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Basics: San Antonio, Texas. 2, 487 undergrads. The Tiger is the official mascot. Founded in 1869. Not religiously affiliated, despite the name. Why it bested NYU and Chapman in Le College Hunt: With NYU, the answer is simple; the tuition, while not absolutely unattainable, would've bound me to a student loan for all eternity, and all but erased the possibility of graduate study. Plus, letting someone who cried himself to sleep at a Jew-camp three hours from home loose in the world's craziest city as a college freshmen is just not a quality idea. As for Chapman, while I was impressed with their burgeoning film program, there was something incredibly homogenized about campus life; everything seemed a little too manicured, too perfect, too airbrushed. The university seemed to be more concerned with success than anything else; I saw too many men in suits gesturing to charts outlining networking opportunities and work study, and not enough current students gushing about personal growth or newly acquired knowledge. I don't mean to knock Chapman-it's earned the reputation it has for a reason. But, as the pamphlets say, its a "university on the move", and I think I'd get trampled. Plus, three people to a dorm room---what is this, a center for ants?!
Why I LOVE it: In a word; alive. Trinity is the antithesis of every stuffy stereotype of college life. For one thing, there's the city, which is so much more than one giant Alamo museum. It's in Texas, so the occasional cowboy hat or Republican bumper sticker sighting is inevitable, but alot of the funky juice that powers Austin leaks over into San Antonio; here's a city with three indie movie theatres, a cabaret, a Broadway-themed restaurant, and (my favorite) a combination burger-joint-laundromat-car-wash with an all-female house band, Ellen and the Degenerates. The effulgent quirkiness pops up in the students as well; they affectionately refer to Coates Hall as "Jackets", hold drug-free raves in the library, and pair economics majors with guitar performance minors. In short; these are people like me. People I can gush about cinema in front of. People I can do my attractive mating dances for. People who I can live with, literally and figuratively, for the next few years. I haven't even mentioned the faculty members I have met, impassioned, accessible, and above and beyond qualified for their respective jobs. I haven't gotten to the campus, in all its red-bricked glory. And I suppose I should bring up the dorms, which are frequently proclaimed the best in the nation. Yes, the triple digit temperatures are an issue; but a few extra bottles of SPF are a small price to pay for what I fully expect to be a phenomenal, formative college education.
What I've learned: Visit the campus. I can't say that enough. I hated the idea of San Antonio, but the reality turned out to be an entirely different bag of chips. Talk to as many students as possible, and with as few adults around as possible; these are the guys who can tell you what it's really like. Look at student publications to gauge the rhetorical ability of the students, as well as their perception of their school. Get meetings with department heads; grill them. It's their job, whether they like it or not. Demand to eat in the cafeteria, even if you have to take hostages. Ask: What's one thing you don't like? Your favorite thing? How do you find the city? The dorm experiences? Trouble with roommates? Partying? Easy to get around? When you think you've asked too many questions, throw out two or three more for good measure. Stalk Facebook pages. YouTube performances, news updates, local columns. Most important is this; if your gut is telling you something...listen.
While we're at it, a preview: Within the next week or so, I'll be posting a HUGE-ASS ESSAY I've been working for a few weeks now. It's some of my best, methinks. Get excited.
Oh, and one more thing: Well....how do I say this eloquently? I tend to find women of the collegiate variety exceedingly attractive. Ooo gurl. Uh.
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