So Much Orange

Introduction
When I was filling out my applications, I wanted to do engineering. This school was very well known for engineering. After doing some of the tough courses here, I realized that engineering was just not for me.

This is a big change from Puerto Rico. It’s a different culture. My school was very Americanized in a way. I had Puerto Rican friends but I also had American friends. I knew what I was dealing with here then. It’s kind of hard to go out here since you have to be 19 to go to the bars here. Over there, you had to be 18 to go to the bars and drink. The nightlife is a little bit different.

Most of them are really friendly. There are few Latin people. In terms of how people are, there are many fraternity guys since this school is very big in fraternity and sororities. You have people from every aspect.

Campus Life and Social Life
The campus here is beautiful. It’s huge. During the spring, lots of people just come out and lay out. This is only the main quad. There is also engineering and south quad. We have the third biggest library in America. It’s very green and that was another reason I came here. I came from a small school, and I was looking for somewhere to lie out and relax. For being in the middle of no where here in Champaign, there are a lot of people that make it really friendly.

Currently I am staying in public university housing. The rooms are pretty small. I am staying in a double. I got lucky with my roommate. He is a good friend of mine now. Once you move in, you set some ground rules, and everything will be fine. I’ve heard stories from friends of mine though. They have had problems with their roommates.

I would say that there is a division between Greek and non-Greek students, especially at the beginning of the year. During the Rush time, it’s a little bit harder if you don’t know people to find yourself around. Most Greek people stick together. Other students follow their own group. Academics
March Madness was really great for us. It brought a lot of school spirit. Everyone was wearing orange. Everyone went to class wearing orange t-shirts. During the games here, we have this thing here called ‘paint the halls orange’, where everyone in the Assembly Hall, where we play basketball, wears orange. Our school color is orange. Even my shoes have orange. People are really friendly. It was a really sad loss. So many places were showing the game and they were giving out free food. It was a really fun place during the Final Four. The IMPE building is this huge working out place. There are racquetball courts, swimming, volleyball courts, and machines. Most of us here at college just try to stay in shape because the food is not really healthy. We have another facility called IMPE open, which is on the other side of the Quad, and it is brand new. I try to go every other day. It’s a lot of fun if you go with your friends and try to support each other.

Student Body
I am currently taking 18 hours of credit. It is a lot of work, but you just have to know how to spend your time and set your priorities first. For the intro courses, some are really hard. This is especially because of the size of the class. Some of them are 700 people are more so it is hard to concentrate. The professors don’t know who you are. Once you start getting more into your Major, they start narrowing down. You get more personal with your professor and what you are going to do. At the beginning, they go very fast. It’s like they are trying to get rid of the people that are not really interested in the course. They are weed-out classes.

I don’t have a preference in my TAs so far. I haven’t had any spectacular TAs so far.

For engineering school, we are rated top 5 in the nation for public schools. That is really good. We have a lot of resources and great professors in the engineering school. For the business school, I believe we are tied for number one. It’s pretty tough to get into the business school. There are certain requirements that you need to have. If you are coming from the outside, like high school, it’s really tough to get in. I know friends with really high SAT schools that didn’t get in. Once you are in, if you have the GPA and course requirements, you should be alright.

In Closing...
The drinking scene is nothing out of proportion. The bars get kind of rowdy. Some of the kids go crazy in the quad at night. I come from a country where drinking age is already legal. It’s not a culture shock. It’s a little bit different from the way I see it than the way other people must see it. The drug scene is nothing out of the ordinary. It’s college so there is drinking and drugs. It’s nothing out of control.