2008 Woodie Awards
UMass for beginners
Matthew R. Robare is a Collegian columnist. He can be reached at mrobare@student.umass.edu.
Issue date: 9/2/08 Section: Editorial / Opinion
Like one-fourth of our undergraduate population, last year I was a freshman. Unlike most undergrads, however, I was part of that puzzling subspecies: the out-of-state student. Right from the start I was set apart as a cultural outsider, unfamiliar with the ways of Massachusetts and the Bay Staters.
For instance, in Vermont, drivers rarely stop for pedestrians who want to cross the street; most people (at least in my hometown) are middle-aged, not to mention the people who talked about doing things regularly, like going to the beach or to certain places in Boston, that I would consider vacation activities.
The other thing was loneliness. I grew up in a town where just about everyone knew someone in my family, where I had friends. My first month or so at the University of Massachusetts I felt lost and alone. I knew people who had dozens of their high school friends come with them or were just plain not as shy as me. But the loneliness did not last forever. Very soon I had a bunch of good friends whom I have been waiting all summer to see again.
For us out-of-staters, not accustomed to the environment here, boredom can come easily. Joining a political cause is one of the most interesting and potentially rewarding campus activities, although the extremist activism can be unsettling. One of my friends was told he was "not white enough" to be a Republican by someone from the ALANA Caucus. I myself have founded a libertarian club. The enthusiasm even trumps reason and research. For those less inclined to politics there are parties and UMass' flourishing theater community, best represented by the comedy powerhouse that is Student Valley Productions.
Practically the whole of my memorable freshman experience revolved around Friday and Saturday nights in Herter laughing myself higher than any drug. My first experience with long form improv comedy involved falling out of my chair (onto the concrete floor) because I was laughing so much and so hard. Nothing is as good as comedy at staving off home sickness and getting one out of their dorm room and away from their roommate's disgusting taste in music.
For instance, in Vermont, drivers rarely stop for pedestrians who want to cross the street; most people (at least in my hometown) are middle-aged, not to mention the people who talked about doing things regularly, like going to the beach or to certain places in Boston, that I would consider vacation activities.
The other thing was loneliness. I grew up in a town where just about everyone knew someone in my family, where I had friends. My first month or so at the University of Massachusetts I felt lost and alone. I knew people who had dozens of their high school friends come with them or were just plain not as shy as me. But the loneliness did not last forever. Very soon I had a bunch of good friends whom I have been waiting all summer to see again.
For us out-of-staters, not accustomed to the environment here, boredom can come easily. Joining a political cause is one of the most interesting and potentially rewarding campus activities, although the extremist activism can be unsettling. One of my friends was told he was "not white enough" to be a Republican by someone from the ALANA Caucus. I myself have founded a libertarian club. The enthusiasm even trumps reason and research. For those less inclined to politics there are parties and UMass' flourishing theater community, best represented by the comedy powerhouse that is Student Valley Productions.
Practically the whole of my memorable freshman experience revolved around Friday and Saturday nights in Herter laughing myself higher than any drug. My first experience with long form improv comedy involved falling out of my chair (onto the concrete floor) because I was laughing so much and so hard. Nothing is as good as comedy at staving off home sickness and getting one out of their dorm room and away from their roommate's disgusting taste in music.
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