College Sampler Tour

I'll be the first person to say that I hate school. I hate school with a passion unrivaled by anything else in my life. I have never enjoyed having to sit for hours and be talked at while "learning" only to regurgitate the information on a test and forget it. In high school, I was absolutely dying to go to college, be FREE!!! No parents, no rules, no nothing! Well, I screwed myself on that front because I stayed at home and went to community college my freshman year.

I was gonna be a nurse! I went to class and my very first college class was an eight a.m. with a professor who was so ridiculous he couldn't even be bothered to show up for his OWN class. Seriously. So that was the first step in a pretty quick downward spiral. My second semester, I got a job and signed up for online courses. Poor. Life. Choice. I did terribly in online classes, though I was really good at my job, proofreading papers and tutoring students. It's really nothing against the school. I think Darton's a really great school. But I was hell-bent I was going to transfer, so I did.

Well, I make it sound easy but actually it was a stressful nightmare that drove me so crazy that I literally could not function. I eventually had to call my gynecologist and ask for SOMETHING to keep me from having panic attacks. I took small doses of xanax and lots of baby steps and moved away from home for the first time. To downtown Atlanta. To a school with 30,000 people. The unnamed "university" was hell on earth for me. No, I'm not good at being away from my family, but I was so incredibly depressed when I lived there that I considered dropping out on a regular basis.
My classes were reasonably sized, but held in old, broken-down classroom buildings and I had to trek through hobo-land every day to get there. The bus was a hit-or-miss phenomenon and if you were bettin' on gettin' on it, then you were bankin' on bein' late. PantherExpress my big behind. Don't even get me started on the people there! I'm a little bit judgmental, I know, but apart from a few really great people, the other students were an odd bunch of misfits who honestly just seemed pissed and confused as to how they wound up there.  My classes werent awful. Except only three of my professors (of the eight or nine I had those two semesters) were actually professors. Typically, the classes are taught by grad. students, some of whom could be the most pretentious, pitiful excuses for teachers I have ever seen. One or two professors really made an impression and their classes were so good I ALMOST considered staying there. But then every day, looking out the window and seeing the wasteland of downtown Atlanta, even living in a high-rise dorm where even the two doors and a turnstile operated by your resident ID didn't make me feel safe, I decided for sure that I was done. May rolled around and I packed up my junk and went home. I made good grades. I'm glad for the experience. I have not been back to Atlanta since. And when I do go back, it damn sure won't be to visit that place.

So I transferred again! Yay! I came off the xanax that June, went to work at the newspaper, and readied myself for Valdosta. I've been here since last August and, honestly, my complaints are few and far between. Sure the place I live in could be nicer, but that's true of campus housing anywhere. I won't comment on how awful living with roommates is, because, honestly, you can make it work with just about anyone if you REALLY want to. The people here are an interesting mix, but sometimes the half-dressed, overly-made-up crowd gets a little wearing. In my upper-division classes it isn't as bad, but the few remaining core classes are pretty well filled with the ditzy, trampy, or else rude and dumb bunch. That's anywhere, though. Some of the people I've met here are so fun and funny and smart that I just can't believe it, sometimes. I've met some super people. My classes, mostly English and Foreign Language, are taught by REAL professors with REAL doctorates who are helpful and knowledgeable and fair. There are a few who are obnoxious, condescending, and unbearable. And by "a few", I mean one in particular, but that's neither here nor there. I'm doing well in all of my classes in my second semester here and there's very little I would change. I'm grateful every day that I left Atlanta for Valdosta. It's one of the best decisions I've ever made.