I ventured out, on my own, in an airplane or two, to fly to Virginia to see this guy who is kinda a big deal. I mean, I only jumped on two planes, by myself, to fly down to see him so he's kinda . . . eh, I dunno, a mere acquaintance you could say? : )
I left after a few classes on Friday afternoon to fly out of DTW . . . for all you out there who don't have a pilot as a boyfriend, that translates to Detroit Wayne-County airport. I flew on an two hour flight to CLT . . . Charlotte Douglas International . . . and then jumped on a 737 (aka: a pretty darn big plane) to climb and then descend down to RDU . . . Raleigh Durham International . . . in forty five minutes (one of my favorite flights). I then waited for my pilot boyfriend to pick me up and fly me back to LYH . . . Lynchburg . . . to finally reach my intended destination.
It was a long day, to say the least. I was ecstatic to check into a hotel and take full advantage of the two queen beds provided, especially since I had gotten approximately four hours of sleep the night before and could not sleep on the plane.
Allow me to just say that the south is entirely different than the north in many many maaaany ways. They drive different, talk different, and carry things out differently. Perhaps that was because I was on a massive Christian campus.
Which, in comparison to the U is completely and utterly polar opposite. One of the guys I met asked what was different between U of M and LU and stared blankly at him for a good minute, trying to come up with something to say. Finally, I told him I could tell him what we shared in common, which was that the students carried backpacks.
I'm sure there are many things that are similar between the two universities. Afterall, they are both universities, so there is one thing.
When comparing their sports programs though, such as their stadium which houses approximately 15,000 spectators (but is expanding to a whopping 60,000 spectators and be shaped as the ever so lovely horseshoe of OSU), to the Big House, which housed more fans in 1927 when it was originally built than Liberty will after its Phase I renovations expected to be completed late 2010.
I am not at all bashing this eager university at all. I am simply observing the massive differences between the conservative southern university and my liberal midwest university.
The student population is basically the same, other than the lack of UGGs present in Virginia as well as students donning everything they own embroidered with their Greek letters. Liberty doesn't have greek life at all. There are boys in ties, girls in sweats, guys in shorts, girls in jeans, guys in flip flops, girls in heels, just like any other university.
Lynchburg was a great college town, it really had a lot to offer. I only got a glimpse of what is probably going on, but there seems to be a lot that to campus offers students as well as many neighboring cities and the city itself.
I was most excited to hear of the weather forecast in Lynchburg- NO SNOW.
That's my kind of location for a school . . . this is one of the things that Michigan is unfortunately, NOT lacking.
Liberty did have amazing facilities for their students. Their buildings, dorms, etc. were all brand new, unlike Michigan's rustic and antique-ish looking exterior. Yes, I suppose it does give character but renovations to the interior of buildings would be wonderful as well. We do have 40,000 students going here who pay anywhere between $25,000 and $50,000 to attend our fine establishment. Air conditioning and wireless in each building isn't too much to ask, is it?
Overall, it was an eye-opening experience, such as flying alone, attending a major southern university, or checking into a hotel on my own. I would do it again, of course, but only 'cause that mere acquaintance was a pretty nice host/tour guide : )
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