Hi everyone! This has been a hectic two month for me. I want to preface this by saying that these two trips are not the first college tours I've done. I took a trip to Northern Arizona University last month, and I meant to make a post like I'm doing now, but February was over before I could realize and time just got away from me :( If you want to see pictures from that trip, they're on my personal Instagram​ @cierra_loves_yah! I felt the need to disclaimer that because I don't want to make it seem like NAU wasn't worth the time or effort, because it definitely is, but if I were to include it in this post it'd be wayyyy too long. That being said, let's begin this trip!
Day One: March 21st, 2018
Itinerary:
○LAX → Eugene (3 PM - 5 PM)
We flew in on Allegiant Airlines because they & Spirit Airlines are apparently the only two airlines that fly into the Eugene airport opposed to the bigger Portland airport. Colleen (my adult chaperone on this trip) described this experience as a "basically a bus with wings" because the plane was so...not comfortable. But, we did have people behind us that were carrying an interesting conversation about composting and recycling, which was nice.
â—‹Hotel Check In (6 PM)
So these are actually day 2 pictures (because I suck at this thing called "documenting"), but the first thing we did after getting in and getting the car was come check in and drop our luggage off. Colleen also described our room as "a motel with a modern twist" because apparently the pictures were "a lot cuter" than the in real life situation.
â—‹Downtown Stroll (7:30ish - 8 PM)
Downtown was interesting because there's things to do but it also has this small town feel. There's a community college right across from the library pictured, so there were some students running around (trying to get out of the rain), but other than that it felt tamer than you'd expect a downtown to be.
â—‹Dinner & Dessert (9-10 PM)
So, I forgot to save my Snapchat story of these places because I again suck at this documenting thing, but basically we went to this placed called Pizza Research Institute (underwhelming, to say the least,) and then to this awesome bakery called Sweet Life Patisserie, which kinda compensated for the lackluster vegan pizza.
Day Two: March 22nd, 2018
Itinerary:
â—‹ Check In (12:45 PM)
â—‹ Campus Tour (1 PM - 2:30 PM)
Honestly, so much was packed into an hour and a half that it's hard to remember all that I was told about the school. Between trying to walk, take pictures, take notes, post to socials, etc... documenting and experiencing simultaneously was quite a challenge. So, to decompress the day, I'm just going to share the highlights of the tour.
#1: Sackett Hall
These dorms compared to NAU's felt A LOT better. There is that natural window light which I love, and even a walk in closet! This particular room was a triple, but even then, it felt like 3 people could coexist rather nicely in the space provided. There's also a kitchen on the main floor with a place to rent pots, pans, etc, and YES, this is a freshman-eligible dorm! Major win!
#2: Memorial Union (Quad)
Memorial quad is a highlight to me because I was told that this is where the freshman club fair happens at the beginning of the school year, which I can only imagine is just like Pitch Perfect to be quite honest. I didn't get a full picture of the lawn, but it's HUGE. It has to be the biggest one to house the 400+ clubs OSU is said to have.
The Memorial Union building is even more interesting because guys, this building is practically a giant lounge. You literally come here just to hang out! A very fancy lounge I must say, because that rug you see in the last picture of the slideshow? Yeah, that's a $2 million dollar rug. I walked on a lot of money today.
#3: The Library
I'm seeing a common theme among university library rules in that the higher the floor, the less noise. Angel (our tour guide) said that the library is 6 stories high, where the 1st floor (pictured) is the rowdiest, levels 3-4 are semi-noisy but moderate, 5 is "okay no chip bags. Maybe you can whisper." and 6 is complete silence.
Something I'd like to remember about that moment: Angel: "Yeah I'm not allowed on the sixth floor because I like to talk and my bag is Velcro."
You can also rent rooms for 3 hours at a time to study in with groups of up to 4 which is nice for finals week!
#5: Department Meeting: College of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences
Not going to lie, after the department meeting I was kinda stressed out. I didn't come prepared with questions and I had no idea what to expect, so the head of the department just kinda handed me some course catalogs of the different focuses of the environmental science major and talked about the program at OSU. It was a lot...by the end of it I was quite literally dazed and confused. Learning so much about how the program works and the research opportunities excited me, but there was also a moment of doubt. Hearing about so many great things people have done made me question if I will be able to perform just as well when my time comes. I guess for now I will chalk it up to another reality check in the ongoing series of them that reminds me that this is actually happening.
#7: Some other things I learned but didn't necessarily have pictures of:
There are these things called living-learning communities, and they are halls dedicated to people of a certain interest. For example, there is the mindfulness community or the Adventure community, etc. It's simply a checkbox on the housing application, and you're almost guaranteed to get into
The campus is a mile wide by a mile wide
There is a campus bus system that runs on a schedule
There is a shuttle service that will take you from campus to the Portland Airport (~ 1hr + 30 mins "on a good day")
Parking is allowed for freshmen students with the purchase of a parking pass (which you may need)
It only takes 90 seconds for emergency help to show up at the blue lights around campus
There is a service called Saferide which runs from 7 PM to 1 AM, and it is around for students to call if they don't want to walk back to their dorm alone at night
There is an onsite pharmacy that gives vaccinations and accepts most insurances
There is a nurse hotline that students can call if they feel sick and the nurses will tell you the best way to approach the situation
OSU is an online submission university, meaning that mostly everything is online and rarely will things be handed in on paper
There is an Adventure Leadership Institute that does exactly what you think it might: help students organize their adventures safely. Angel said that she is going to Canada soon and went there to check out snow boots and other necessities for her trip! How awesome is that!
OSU's campus is truly beautiful. Nature pictures!
So in retrospect, here are the immediate pros and cons:
Pros:
The campus is very lush
The dorms feel open and inviting
Free access to school sporting events + gym & weight rooms
The dining plan seems feasible
Beavers (AKA lots of school spirit)
Tons and tons of tutoring centers. (That'll come in handy for this college math thing)
My college has the most undesignated funding out of all of the other colleges in the school, meaning there's a lot more opportunity like I mentioned earlier.
Cons:
We didn't actually walk through any of the dining halls, so I don't necessarily know what options I'd have (although I was given contact information for the person specializing in dietary needs, so that's cool)
The town around the campus is a bit less thrilling than I hoped for (but the amount of things to do on campus may compensate)
The nearest Target is literally 30 minutes away. Not kidding.
The weather is kinda bipolar (hoping it's just because it's Spring? Maybe?)
WHHHEWWW, this was a long post! Today (March 23rd), we're heading to U of O, so get ready for another long post if you're interested in taking this journey along with me. Thanks for reading!!