When I was first applying to come to N.C. State four years ago, I was taken aback by the fact that there were so many different individual colleges. I understood on a certain level that departments such as CHASS were teaching different material than the College of Design, but I didn’t get why the names made it sound as if students would be attending different schools.
This sentiment didn’t really go away when I first arrived, either. Freshman year, with as many general requirements as students have, I was all over the place, seeing all the different buildings this campus had to offer.
Along the way, that diversity faded away. The deeper I got into my major, the less distance there was between my different classrooms. Now, in the last semester of my senior year, the building I go into at the beginning of the day is the same one I leave in the evening.
That doesn’t mean I don’t still get around campus, especially when I need to meet up with a professor or faculty member for a story. Now, however, I fully understand the way the University has things arranged. There are a lot of events that students will take part in during their time here, but my time as a CHASS student has definitely made my college experience unique.
Truthfully, it’s the little things that make all the differences. When I’m waiting around between classes, I think of Caldwell lounge and the congregation of other CHASS students that hang out there. I think of its relaxed atmosphere, the kind where someone can randomly start playing the piano without anyone getting angry about it.
Conversely, I can think of the few times I’ve waited around in the lounge at Riddick. It’s a stricter environment, with everyone working on their homework and a heavy silence hanging over the place. I’m not saying this is a terrible environment, but I know that you couldn’t get away with playing music there.
The above is just an example, but it makes me wonder about other people’s college experience. I think of the Wolfline and running across Hillsborough to grab lunch at Jimmy John’s as big parts of my time here at N.C. State. What about someone who had a spot in the parking deck or had a bunch of classes on Western?
Then there’s Centennial Campus, which feels like a world all its own compared to the rest of the University.
The point is that even though we’re all students at N.C. State, that doesn’t mean we’re all getting the same things out of our time here. Beyond what we’re learning in the classroom, the ways we study, the people we know and the places we hang out are all unique, making the college experience all the more personal.
