First, the news: Hayden got tooth #5 today! Right top lateral incisor. Hurray!
Now, my meme. Since I got to go hear Jane Clayson Johnson speak at BYU yesterday, I was thinking about how nice it is to live close to a university. So, we’ll look at this from both sides.
Six of the Worst Things about Living in/near a College Town
Traffic. With 30,000 students 8 months out of the year (and 12,000 the other four months), you can really tell when school’s in session. I’m not happy in traffic.
Scary drivers. Maybe this is especially bad here, since a lot of local students are from California 😉 .
Late night noise. BYU isn’t exactly a party school (understatement), but I imagine that late night noise is a problem at other places.
Games. No, I’m not anti sports. But as I mentioned before, I’m not happy in traffic and game days = traffic. Major traffic. Especially when playing a rival.
Tempting fruit. I really want a graduate degree. I haven’t exactly decided what in (Creative Writing or American History, I think), but with a well-regarded university so close, it’s always tempting to apply again.
The campus is our world. Although I know there are a lot of things going on in our community, but it seems like most things are happening on campus. This is more prevalent when you’re actually a student, but sometimes I just don’t want to make the 20 minute trek down there just to get something done.
Half a Dozen of the Best Things about Living in/near a College Town
Speakers. It’s a bit controversial here, but the vice president is speaking at BYU’s commencement. Who cares if it’s Dick Cheney—the vice president is speaking at commencement!
Other cultural events. In addition to the on-campus plays, concerts and shows, universities tend to attract the same kinds of activities off campus.
Games. Yeah, I know it’s up there, too, but they’re fun. Ryan and I started hanging out by going to basketball games together.
Classes. Again, it’s up there, but how cool is it to be able to study something whenever you want (and have the time and money)?
Family. It gets my sisters out here, almost 2000 miles away from our home and parents. If I didn’t have them, I’d be pretty much alone. 🙁
Library. I can’t check things out for free, even though I’m an alumna, but the BYU library is one of the top 3 in the nation. If I need books and other resources on just about any subject imaginable, I know where I can get them.
I suppose this won’t really be a meme until I tag people and other people start doing it, but… I don’t feel like it today. Besides, it’s tough to come up with six arguments on both sides of an issue. I won’t wish this on anyone else (yet).