UK-7, Centre-1

My sister liked the University of Kentucky—it has seven cafeterias. Centre has only one. Weak competition to her 10-year-old mind.

While cafeterias, and the food they served, were critical to my sister, my priorities were a bit different. A veteran of summer camps at various universities, I knew where to look, what questions to ask when touring a new campus; I was the weird kid peeking behind the bathroom shower curtains, asking questions about laundry facilities, farmer’s markets, and other quality-of-life issues not addressed in the prospective student brochures.

The day before moving to Centre, I alternated between worrying about how my mountain of belongings could possibly fit into a shared 9x12 room, and bigger questions of “Did I made the right decision?”, “Am I settling?”, and “Is Centre too close to home?”

Helping to calm my fears were President Roush’s parting words from the Scholars’ Weekend: “No matter where you end up, dive right in and don’t look back.”

My doubts and fears became obsolete after the first week of classes—I quickly realized that Centre is much more than academics, student/faculty ratios, and even its single cafeteria (don’t tell my sister!). Centre is the familiar beeping of the walk sign, the stress of deadlines, and being unable to have a coherent conversation when walking across campus because of all the people you have to say hi to! It’s the random giant trampolines outside the Student Center, Lady GaGa and Backstreet Boys playing in Cowan on Fridays, lack-of-sleep competitions, movie nights, and homework.

At Centre, I've found the small classrooms, engaging academics, and yes, good food that my college-searching self was seeking, but more importantly, I have found a life of my own far beyond brochure or website descriptions.